Over the 12 months to October 2016, the total monthly debt the holders of major cards (namely, Visa, Mastercard and Amex) intended to carry forward to their next statements averaged A$19 billion per month. This was one of the findings of the latest Roy Morgan annual survey of more than 39,000 cardholders. The survey also disclosed that the main contributors to this debt were lower-income cardholders who, on average, owed a much higher proportion of their incomes than the higher-income groups. For instance, major cardholders with annual incomes of under $25,000 carry forward $1,100 in debt, on average. This represents 8.9 per cent of their annual income, the highest of all income groups. The cardholders in this income group account for a third of all major cardholders.As income increases, the average amount carried forward represents a declining proportion of the cardholder's income. For the highest income group - those earning over $250,000 annually - the average debt was $2,500, or less than one per cent of their average income. The other large cardholder segment, with just over a third of the market (33.7 per cent), is the $25,000 to $59,000 group. Their average debt is $1,400, or about 3.5 per cent of their average income.The proportion of cardholders who carry nothing or very little forward to their next statement increases with income. For the under-$25,000 segment, only one in five (20.5 per cent) carry forward either nothing or less than $100. For the highest income group, more than half (56.8 per cent) carry forward either zero or less than $100.Among those carrying over $2,000 or more at the end of the month, there is likely to be some increase in stress for the lowest income group: 8.3 per cent of cardholders on incomes of under $25,000 carry forward this amount, according to Roy Morgan's numbers. Although the proportion owing $2,000 or more peaks at nearly one in four (22.6 per cent) among cardholders earning $150,000 to $249,000, it is clearly easier to handle debts of this size at these higher income levels. Only 16.1 per cent of cardholders in the $250,000-plus income group carry forward over $2,000, although some of these will no doubt owe considerably more."Although the overall level of debt that cardholders intend to carry forward per month has averaged an impressive $19 billion over the last year and is likely to rise over the festive season, it appears that most cardholders are coping with this level. Evidence for this is that this debt overall is only equivalent to 2.8 per cent of cardholders' incomes," Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan Research, said.At the request of Banking Day, Roy Morgan Research re-cut their major cardholder data according to the size of the financial institution (see graph). On the face of it, the major Australian banks and the likes of HSBC and Citi seem to attract a similar type of credit card holder (those more likely to pay off sooner).Likewise, there are similarities between the second tier/regional