Credit card debts rise amid mortgage pressure

Households are still saddled with an average credit card debt of €1,330, amid claims that pressure to repay mortgages has meant higher interest rate debts are going unpaid.

Figures from the Central Bank show the average debt per card is just €20 less than the average debt per card at the end of 2008 — even though the overall amount of personal credit card debt fell by €400m up to the end of last year.

Central Bank head of statistics Joe McNeill said there were fewer credit cards in the system due to some credit institutions leaving the country, but that more work needed to be done to determine who owed what.