A third of Australians would use a bonus payment to pay off debt and quarter would save it, according to a new survey.MasterCard's latest Consumer Purchasing Priorities survey indicates that consumers are maintaining a conservative outlook when it comes to their personal finances.People expect to save 17 per cent of their income, on average. More than half (53 per cent) said they were saving primarily for "precautionary purposes".Other motivators for saving include buying or renovating a home, saving for a trip and saving for retirement.MasterCard country manager Andrew Cartwright said one aspect of this prudent attitude to personal finances was a change in the way credit cards were used.Cartwright said that over the past couple of years there had been record high repayment levels and a much lower revolve rate on card accounts.Card issuers are making changes to their cards to accommodate these changing dynamics.Cartwright said issuers overseas were offering a feature that allows customers to convert their credit card debt to a term loan at a lower rate. Such features are designed to appeal to customers who would otherwise take a balance transfer offer with another issuer or consolidate their consumer debt into their mortgage.