Women tend to make more credit card debt mistakes

When making efforts to deal with credit card debt responsibly, it seems women might have more difficulties than their male counterparts.

Women tend to make a larger number of mistakes when dealing with their credit card balances than men do, including carrying balances from one month to the next and not comparison shopping when seeking a new account, according to new data from FINRA. In all, 60 percent of women said they carried a balance regularly, 9 percent more than men. Moreover, 42 percent of women made a habit of making only the minimum payment to their lender every month, compared with 38 percent of men.

Further, when it came to looking for a new card, just 31 percent of women compared a number of accounts to find the best deal possible, the report said. Perhaps as a consequence, women tended to face higher interest rates on their credit cards than men did, regardless of their financial literacy.

Consumers who face higher interest rates may be more likely to run into rapidly-expanding balances if they don't pay their bills in full every month. This may require them to seek debt relief as they attempt to get their finances in order.