Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2005 , Vol 8, Issue 4
BEHAVIORS OF OLDER PEOPLE ON USING THE CREDIT CARD AND PROBLEMS THEY FACE
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Aile ve Tüketici Bilimleri Bölümü, ANKARA Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the behaviors of the older people on using the credit card and the problem which they face.

Material and Methods: 231 older people have been included from the organizations under T.C. Emekli Sandığı (Social Security Institution for Civil Servants) by “Random Sampling Method”. Since the women, who visit the retired associations, were not found, the behaviors of the older men who are 60 years-old or older on using the credit card and the problems which they face were studied in accordance with their income and education levels.

Results: Most of older people (74.0%) have credit card. 52.6% of older people who have the credit card have pointed out that they use the credit card, but 47.4% of them have stated that they don't use it. Those who state that “credit card causes the persons making unnecessary shopping” as one of the reasons to not use the credit card is and those who state that “the credit card allows shopping without cash” as one of the reasons to use the credit card are foremost. It was found that the first group which the older people use the credit card is food and clothing (95.7%), and while the income and education levels are increasing, the clothing expenses with credit card reduce. It was determined that the problems during the using of credit card by the older people were “expense, exceeding the income level” and “paying the high interest rate”.

Conclusion: As a result, contrary to the income reduces during the older ages, the older consumers must be informed and trained on conscious utilization of credit cards which may be used as the helping source to maintain their current living-standard. Keywords : Elderly, Credit card