30 December 2008
Consumers are beginning to migrate their spending to credit cards, reversing a long-term trend towards debit card use.
This is the view of Donald MacLeod, the head of Sainsbury's credit cards, who said there has been a shift back to the former in recent months.
He said this could be down to the upturn in online shopping, as credit cards offer better protection against faulty goods or retailers going bust.
However, he added: "There are a lot of good retail offers on the cards, so people might be thinking … 'I will take advantage of deals that are available on credit'."
According to the UK payments association Apacs, UK consumers made 1.9 billion plastic card purchases in the third quarter of 2008, totalling £93.7 billion.
Debit cards accounted for 73.8% of all plastic card purchases compared to 72% during the same period the year before.