21 April 2008
A growing number of consumers are using cash as opposed to their credit cards as they attempt to minimise debts, a report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said.
In a survey of under 20,000 retail outlets, cash was used 60% of the time last year, which is higher than the 54% registered in 2006.
Stephen Robertson, Director General at the BRC, noted that the general public has become more "reluctant" to splash out on cards recently.
"There is a widening gap between the amount spent in cash and the amount spent using cards, suggesting customers want to keep tight control of their finances," he commented.
And the organisation also suggested that the figures handed out to retailers during credit card transactions should be lowered.
Last week, those attempting to get interest free balance transfer deals were warned that these are beginning to diminish from the market.