Credit cards are for shopping but not enough Australians are shopping around for their credit cards, a survey suggests.
More than half of credit card-carrying Australians have never bothered to switch theirs but it could be costing millions of them hundreds of dollars a year.
So-called 'credit card loyalty' sets the average Australian back about $153-a-year in excess interest and missed rewards, consumer comparison site Finder says.
"Many borrowers don't realise the potential savings they can get from switching providers," according to personal finance expert Amy Bradney-George.
"Being too loyal means you also miss out on valuable sign-up bonuses and reward offers.
"Some frequent flyer credit cards offer enough bonus points to fly overseas and they're typically only available to new cardholders."
People should be taking better advantage of the market, she said.
In a survey of 1057 Australians, more than half of them credit card holders, 55 per cent had never switched cards. Extrapolated, that's an estimated six million consumers.
Thirty five per cent had switched more than a year ago and only eight per cent had changed in the past year.
By comparison, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports record numbers of Aussies refinanced their mortgages this year on the back of six interest rate hikes by the RBA between the beginning of May and November.
Fourteen billion dollars worth of home loans were placed with a new lender in August alone, according to the data - 20 per cent more than the same month in the previous year and involving just over 4000 more mortgagors.
Shopping around for a better deal can make a bigger difference than people realise, Finder says.
The Reserve Bank of Australia estimates a record $32.1 billion was put on credit cards in September of this year, with the average Aussie racking up nearly $2500 of debt.
RBA data suggesting the average credit card interest rate is around 20 per cent a year.
But Finder says many new cards offer a zero per cent balance transfer period for up to three years.
"If you are carrying a $5000 balance on a regular credit card, you could save more than $2000 in interest by doing a balance transfer to some cards," Ms Bradney-George said.
A 'set-and-forget' approach to financial products was almost always a bad idea, she added.
"People who hold onto the same card over a long period of time are leaving money on the table.
"They don't know how much they can save from comparing other cards on the market."
