Speaking of which, Australians are hitting their credit cards ever harder, are
paying interest rates that beggar belief, are no doubt partly seduced by
desperate marketing but also obliged by necessity (which consideration never
gets a mention in this connection), and are being further helped to discipline
themselves by new cash advance fees (what is to rob a bank, compared to
founding one, eh?).
Anyway, just another datum for the doomwatch ...
Cheers,
Rob.
Card cash advances hit $10b
*Sunday Herald Sun* 24 June 01
OUR love affair with credit has reached new
heights with $10 billion withdrawn last year in cash advances on credit
cards.
Credit card cash advances - despite interest
rates of about 16 per cent - jumped 45 per cent in two years.
Australians withdrew $809 million in cash
advances on their cards in April, compared with $559 million in April 1998,
according to latest Reserve Bank figures.
In the year to April, $9.8 billion in cash was
withdrawn on credit cards, up from $6.6 billion in 1998.
The average cash advance was $263.82 - a sharp rise
of almost 20 per cent in three years from $223 - while the average credit card
purchase was $106.67.
The rise in credit card advances reflected a
recent surge in credit card spending - fuelled by frequent-flyer programs -
and the familiarity and convenience of ATMs, the director of credit card
information firm MWE consulting, Mr Mike Ebstein said.
Consumer groups warn that a credit card cash
advance is one of the most expensive ways to get cash and suggest EFTPOS
withdrawals from their bank accounts instead, if these are an option.
"If you are getting a lot of cash advances out, it
is costing you a lot of money and it is not in your best interests to manage
your finances that way," Australian Consumers' Association finance policy
officer, Ms Louise Petschler, said.
ANZ last month imposed a 1.5 per cent fee on cash advances.
