9 April 2020: Debit and credit cards were used 19.7bn times in 2019, with £722bn spent.
This #icaewchartoftheweek is on the subject of credit and debit usage in the UK, with UK Finance (the trade body for the banking and financial sector) reporting that £722bn was spent on UK and overseas cards in 2019. This comprised 19.7bn transactions at an average of just under £37 per transaction.
Average spending on credit cards at £53 per transaction was higher than the average of £32 spent on each debit card transaction. As a consequence, credit cards were around 30% of the total spend, but 21% of total transactions.
The number and value of contactless transactions both increased by 16% compared with 2018, as more and more people chose to use this form of payment. The average contactless spend was £9.35 on 8.6bn occasions, in contrast with the £81 spent on each of the 2.7bn online transactions in 2019, and the average of £50 incurred in 8.4bn non-contactless transactions.
Overall spending on credit and debit cards in 2019 was only 0.2% higher than in 2018, even though the number of transactions was up by 7.3%. This provides an indication of the weakness in the UK economy before recent events.
Of course, what we all want to know if what is happening right now. With the country in lockdown, the number and value of transactions are likely to fall significantly. We will be poring over that data as soon as it is made available!