The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) this morning urged credit card users to pay their bills in full each month to keep their debt under control.
In its second independent cost survey on credit cards, IFSRA found that even when consumers make the regular minimum required repayments on credit card bills their outstanding debt can remain "stubbornly high".
IFRSA Consumer Director Ms Mary O'Dea said: "Credit cards are a very convenient way of managing money and if you repay your bill in full each month, you can avail of free credit for up to 56 days with some cards."
"However, when bills are not paid in full interest starts to build up. . . . Our main message to consumers is that credit cards are not suitable for long-term borrowing," she continued.
The IFSRA survey outlines the options available to credit card users who have a large amount of credit card debt with no set repayment plan.
It contains a example of a consumer making regular minimum repayments on a €4,000 credit card debt.
It highlights that the person would still owe between €2,474 and €3,977 at the end of the 12-month period, meaning the total credit card debt could fall by as little as €23 or as much as €1,526.
At the launch of the survey Ms O'Dea also welcomed the introduction of new security features for credit cards, including new chip and PIN Technology.