Record number of plastic transactions in December

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Record number of plastic transactions in December

Fri 2nd Feb 2007

People spent most of the festive period slapping goods on the plastic, with a record amount of transactions occurring, according to new research.

The UK payments association, Apacs, has reported that spending on plastic cards in December last year hit a high of £31 billion with debit cards accounting for the majority of transactions with £19.6 billion.

A total number of 669 million transactions took place in December on plastic cards which represents a six per cent increase on 2005 and highlights a growing dependence on cards over cash when making purchases.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, said: "We spent record amounts this Christmas and record amounts on our cards. The trend that we have seen over recent years of cards replacing cash and cheques on the high street continued this Christmas."

Although plastic card spending on the whole has been found to have risen, credit card spending actually decreased last December, falling from £11.5 billion for the corresponding period in 2005 to £11.4 billion.

Also, the number of credit card transactions was down four per cent from December 2005 and Ms Quinn said this was due to consumers exhibiting greater responsibility in how they borrow.

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