29 April 2009
Consumers spent more on debit than credit cards last year, figures show, with cheques also falling out of favour with spenders.
The latest statistics from Apacs - the UK payments association, show that 66% of spending in 2008 occurred on plastic cards, with cheque usage declining by 4%.
Debit card transactions accounted for two-thirds of all the retail expenditure on cards, the statistics show, with the amount spent totalling £116.1 billion.
Total UK consumer spending on credit cards, however, saw an increase of 2%, with transactions totalling £126.2 billion.
"It was only back in December 2004 that combined total credit and debit card spending overtook total cash spending for the first time," observes Sandra Quinn, Director of Communications.
She describes the rise of the debit card as "meteoric" both on and off the high street.
It was revealed by Apacs last month that credit card fraud losses totalled £609.9 million last year.