Battle of the sexes or the Amexes? Men and women's credit card habits.

Men and women are different, that much we know, so divided that the most popular relationship book of all time is “Men are from Mars, Women from Venus.”  But do the sexes manage their credit cards differently, too?  

 

We might have preconceived notions of how men and women use their credit cards: are women really going on shoe shopping sprees that make their cards smoke?  Are men buying too many big shiny toys to stockpile in their man caves?

 

Let’s find out.  The website NextAdvisor.com did a yearlong study about the personal use of credit card debt, and the differences between men and women.  

 

15% of men admitted they used a cash advance in the past year, compared to only 12% of women. Kudos to the fairer sex, because cash advances often come with astronomical interest rates and unfavorable repayment options in the fine print.

 

60% of women carry a balance on their cards regularly, compared to 55% of men.    

 

29% of women have paid a late fee in the last year, versus only 23% of men.   There’s room for improvement from everyone here, because late payments often trigger higher interest rates, wasted fees, and could potentially hurt your credit score.

 

42% of women regularly pay only the minimum, while 38% of men do so.  Trying to pay your balances off by paying only the minimum will takes years, sometimes decades, and result in total payoffs that are exponentially higher than your original balance!  Ouch!

 

The average man in this survey held $12,953 in credit card balances, while women held $11,486.

 

45% of men paid their balance in full every month, while only 39% of women did so.  Keeping a balance higher than roughly 30% of your total debt may hurt your credit score.   

 

37% of men shop around to compare credit cards, while only 31% of women do so.

 

93% of men versus only 82% of women say they pay their bills on time every month.  It looks like both men and women need to be more organized with paying bills on time!       

 

58% of men compared to only 49% of women check their credit report regularly.  It’s recommended that you check your report every quarter, because finding inaccuracies, old items that should fall off, and misreporting issues could save your score – and a lot of money.  Identity theft is rampant these days so regularly checking your report will help combat that.

 

It’s reported that women on average pay .5% higher than men on their credit card interest rates. 

 

The average score for women was 682, while the men in the study lagged behind at 675.   

 

What does this all mean?  When it comes to the use of credit card debt, there is room for improvement for both men and women.  The first step is to understand the pitfalls and traps or regular credit card use.  By managing your cards correctly you’ll save so much money you can go reward yourself with…new shoes or big shiny toys!