CUA shines light on personal lending

A study of more than 1,600 personal loans issued by the credit union that were taken out for holidays and travel shows that 54 per cent were taken out by women.

However, while men make up only 46 per cent of holiday borrowers, they tend to take out a larger loan when they’ve been bitten by the travel bug.

CUA’s research found that men over the age of 40 are the biggest borrowers, being lent an average of $13,250 for their holiday splurge – around $900 higher than the average loan amount of $12,323 for younger men.

Men under 40 are the least likely group to take out a personal loan to pay for a holiday, accounting for fewer than one in five of CUA’s holiday loans.

Similarly, younger women tended to borrow less than those aged over 40 – an average of $11,724 compared to $12,457 for women aged 40 and over.

Chris Malcolm, CUA’s head of customer insights, said women often make financial decisions for the family, reflective of the larger proportion of holiday personal loans to females.

“If women are making financial decisions for the family, it makes sense that includes working out the finances for large family holidays,” he said.

“Men are less likely to have a personal loan for a holiday and could be paying for travel via other sources – using cash from their savings account, credit cards or even redrawing money from a mortgage or offset account.”

Mr Malcolm added that customers were increasingly turning to personal loans to finance holidays in Australia or overseas.

[Related: The new wave of personal lending]