据报道，澳大利亚人似乎对使用信用卡上瘾。据统计，该国人民信用卡债务已超过520亿澳元，打破了记录。此外，据澳大利亚储备银行发布的最新数据显示，信用卡债务完全没有要减少的迹象。
Australians are addicted to credit cards and have racked up the biggest ever debt on plastic at more than $52 billion. And the alarming new statistics released by the Reserve Bank of Australia found our record credit card blowout is far from slowing down.
最近的债务飙升是因为消费者在圣诞节期间过度消费而造成的，仅在12月这一个月内，澳洲人的信用卡债务就达到了280亿澳元。
The latest jump was fuelled by shoppers overspending at Christmas after they accumulated a record high on plastic for the month of December by plonking $28 billion onto credit.
Yellow Brick Road的女发言人Lyndsey Douglas表示，全国信用卡债务飙升与不断增大的家庭支出压力有直接的关系。她说：“信用卡是一种很方便的工具，但是不应该用作长期债务或者用于生活支出。”
Yellow Brick Road spokeswoman Lyndsey Douglas said the soaring national credit card debt was directly "linked to growing household spending pressures." "Credit cards are a convenient tool but they shouldn't be used as long-term debt or for living expenses." she said.
据悉，有些信用卡向客户收取高于20%的利息，所以那些不能全额还款的人们将为此付出昂贵的代价。金融对比网站的女发言人Sally Tindall表示。在对信用卡总债务堪忧的同时，她也警告人们要避免陷入“债务循环”。
Some cards attract interest rates higher than 20 per cent for customers so for those who fail to pay off their card in full they will pay a hefty price. Financial comparison website spokeswoman Sally Tindall said while the overall debt on cards was a concern she warned people to avoid getting trapped in a "debt cycle."
“我们越来越依赖信用卡，如果你可以还清卡债的话，这当然没有问题。但是银行卡产生利息的金额已经从大约370亿降到了321亿。”
"We are relying on credit cards more and more and that's OK if you are paying it off in full. However the amount on cards accruing interest is down from a high of about $37 billion to about $32.1 billion."
如果一个用户有五千澳元的卡债，平均利率为18%，每月按最低金额还款，总利息将超过17100澳元，要花33年时间才能还清。
On a $5000 card debt with an average interest rate of about 18 per cent, by making the minimum monthly repayments it would cost a customer more than $17,100 in interest and take them 33 years to pay off.