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"Consumers spent more on debit cards last year"

By admin | April 20th, 2009 | Credit Cards

According to a report from the payment clearance agency, APACS, last year saw an increasing number of consumers turning to their debit cards to make purchases rather than turning to their credit cards or cheques.

Officials from the agency said that last year saw a slowdown in credit card use, as the global credit crunch and tighter credit conditions took their toll on consumers, and there was a sharp decline in cheque use, with an increasing number of retailers and companies deciding to no longer accept this form of payment.

Compared to 2007 there was only a slight increase in credit card spending in 2008, with a rise of £2 billion from £124 billion in 2007 to £126 billion for 2008. However, when it came to debit card use there was a rise of around 9 percent between 2007 and 2008, taking the amount spent on debit cards from £224 billion in 2007 to £245 billion in 2008. The use of cheques had fallen by over 10 percent last year compared to cheque use in 2007.

Some supporters of the cheque has said that whilst many firms may have stopped accepting this form of payment cheque use was not about to fade away altogether. One official said: “Until there is greater transparency over the costs involved in processing cheques and suitable alternative ways to pay small businesses and individuals the cheque will celebrate many more birthdays.”

The APACS figures also showed that in 2008 the number of debits cards that were in circulation in the UK overtook the number of credit cards in circulation. Whilst in 2007 there were 73 million credit and store cards in circulation compared to 72 million debits cards, in 2008 this changed to 71 million credit cards and store cards in circulation compared to 75 million debits cards.

Tags: apacs, debit cards

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