On average, each Aussie with a credit card has $3,321 of debt to pay off, according to figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Data from the central bank showed that across the country, debt incurred on plastic stands at $49.3 billion, reports News.com.au.

It revealed that this represents a 42 per cent increase on the amount owed five years ago.

Debt Relief Australia spokesperson Deborah Southon asserted that the typical family may owe more than the national average, as many have two or more cards.

Those who are struggling to make reduce their debt may want to consider going online to compare credit cards to look for those with an attractive promotional balance transfer interest rates.

Earlier this month, the same news provider reported that Coles is set to trial a system whereby customers can use their credit and debit cards to purchase groceries at drive-through stores.

From now until 31st July, Amex cardholders can transfer Membership Reward points into BA miles and get 50% bonus miles. That means for example if you transfer 1,000 points into 1,000 BA miles, you will get an additional 500 miles to make it a total of 1,500 miles. For those of you who have applied for the BA 100,000 miles deal (like I have), this is another good chance to accumulate even more miles!

I presently have over 60,000 MR points and I guess I have to do some research and even plan for next years summer trip and see if it makes sense to do so. For those who have the Amex Platinum Card, you can “borrow” up to 60,000 points to transfer to BA (in addition to points you already have!). Once again, another huge opportunity to rack up those BA miles.

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Consumer confidence in Australia dropped in the six months leading up to April 2011, according to the latest survey by MasterCard.

The credit card providers study revealed that in this period, confidence fell to 63.1 points, down from 74.1 points in the preceding half a year.

Andrew Cartwright, MasterCard Australia country manager, noted that many Aussies are being more cautious with regards to their spending and saving habits.

“Households are keeping their wallets closed and are adopting a wait and see approach, in particular keeping a close eye on Reserve Bank of Australia rate announcements, before making large-scale purchases,” he told the Australian Associated Press.

He noted that there has also been a softening in the growth of credit card purchases, but that there is still growth with regards to debit cards as Aussies look to only spend what they have.

This comes after Tim Lawless, research director at RP Data, said many people are waiting for positive developments in the economy before they take out new home loans.

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Does your company still have cubicles for employees? Perhaps you’ve even got some offices—you know, those old-fashioned rooms with doors that actually close. If so, you might want to do some updating when it comes to your office space. MarketWatch recently took a look at the latest trends in office space, and one key word stands out: open.

While businesses and employees typically fear the idea of open-plan office space will mean endless noise and distraction, in reality, the opposite seems to be true. Wit

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FERNDALE, Mich.

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