Worldpay has looked at traveler payment preferences in six major markets and has found that the Chinese are now more likely to fund a trip on credit than Americans.

It found that 72% of Chinese respondents paid for their last holiday using a credit option.

By contrast, 67% of Indian travelers paid for their last trip from their savings.

Other headline findings from its “Why Do They Pay That Way” study found that 36-45-year-olds in China and the US were more likely to go into debt to travel than 26-35-year-olds, with the Chinese fortysomethings less credit averse than their US peers.

Worldpay also noted that Chinese are looking at alternative credit options – such as loans – with only 44% opting to use their card to pay for their next trip. Nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) will pay using a credit card.

One in three Chinese would rather use online service Alipay, often referred to as “the Paypal of China”, to pay for their trip, with one-in-ten opting for a domestic, pre-authorised debit card from UnionPay.

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