Women Purchasing Power Indicates Credit Cards Getting Left At Home

When it comes to spending, retailers know that the ultimate say belong to women. Although the general consensus is that men are the head of the household, it is often the case that women dictate where spending goes to. This is doubly true for the shopping spree that retailers expect to see this holiday season.

This holiday season is not going to be any different that the previous ones in the sense that women are going to dictate just how much of the family budget goes to shopping spending. One glaring difference this holiday is bringing is that women are now opting out of credit cards and moving towards cash and debit cards instead. This is just another indication of the alienation American consumers are feeling with credit cards.

A survey from CheapToday, an online shopping network, shows that the majority of women in the household prefer to use their debit cards instead of their credit cards through their Visa networks. Of the 14 percent polled who preferred to use MasterCard, the preference was once again to use debit cards instead of credit cards. An impressive 31 percent said that they used cash or checks primarily for shopping payments.

CheapToday CEO and president Chris Hill says that women shoppers are now much more inclined to use debit or cash to pay for “pay as you go” purchases for this year’s holiday season. According to Hill, the primary motivation among women shoppers seems to be to avoid getting in debt trouble and having to contend with paying off large credit card balances for 2010. This trend, hill adds, reflects the overall trend among consumers of moving away from credit card reliance for shopping this holiday season.

The trend is quite understandable considering that the economy, although already showing small signs of recovery, is far from stabilizing. Unemployment is also up and analysts expect it to continue to climb for a few more months. The new Credit CARD Act is also making huge waves in the credit industry, causing credit card companies to be more stingy with credit and scrambling to maximize profits and realign their businesses to prepare for the penalties that the new credit law is bringing, all of which is contributing to consumer spending jitters.

As a matter of fact, the shift away from credit card payments is well known. Generally, credit cards are getting overtaken by debit cards when it comes to consumer card-purchases. Analysts also believe that the trend is side effect of the recession the country is going through, emphasizing a growth in financial responsibility among consumers.