Debt set to fuel Christmas Eve spending

Credit card debt looks likely to fuel much of the spending on British high streets in the final hours before Christmas, according to recent research.

Figures compiled by Sainsbury’s Bank show that around £380.9 million worth of credit card debt will be accumulated by UK consumers on Christmas Eve alone.

Around 19 million people are expected to shop on Christmas Eve and close to one million indicated recently that they intend to do all of their festive buying at the last available opportunity.

Donald MacLeod, head of cards for Sainsbury’s, said: “It looks like the shops are going to be busy on Christmas Eve as a lot of people intend to do a significant part of their shopping then.

“Our research would indicate that the overall spend in the Christmas Eve rush is going to be considerably up on last year’s.”

Apacs, the UK’s payments association, expects to see around £11.7 billion worth of credit card debt accumulated nationwide over the course of this month.