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APACS has issued December spending predictions which show that a total of £51.6
billion is expected to be spent over the month, an increase of 6.6% on the
December 2005 figure.
The combined figures of spending on cards, cash and cheques show a continued
increase in plastic card use overall, with cards accounting for 61.6% of the
predicted spend of 51.6 billion in December 2006, up from 58.8% last year.
The figures mirror recent trends with debit cards continuing to dominate as the
more popular method of plastic payment and credit card spending levelling off:
►Overall plastic card use looks set to rise. In December 2005 £28.5 billion was
spent on plastic cards, and APACS predicts in December 2006 a rise of 11.6 per
cent to £31.8 billion.
►APACS predicts that credit cards will continue to dominate in the online arena,
making up 67 per cent of the expected £3 billion total of plastic card spend
online at £2 billion, compared to £2.2 billion in 2005.
►There is a continuing trend to pay by debit cards. Debit card expenditure in
December 2006 is expected to reach £20.4 billion, up £3.4 billion from £17.0
billion in December 2005 (an increase of 20.1 per cent).
►Credit card spending in December 2006 is predicted to remain close to December
2005 levels at £11.4 billion virtually unchanged from a figure of £11.5 billion
in December 2005.
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS, stated: "Overall our penchant
for plastic continues, and it looks as though this Christmas our plastic cards
will continue to replace cash and cheques for our festive purchases.
"Over recent months we have seen that cardholders are becoming more responsible
in the way that they borrow, reining in their spending and focusing on
repayments.
"It appears that this Christmas is no exception, with the majority of spending
being done by debit rather than credit cards.
"Debit cards are increasingly replacing cash and cheques for our everyday
purchases.
"This trend has definitely been helped by chip and PIN which has made paying
with plastic faster, safer and more widely accepted all of which means we are
more likely to take out our plastic for small value transactions".
Source:
Getting Paid
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