Consumers' retail credit card spending overtakes cash
Posted on in Cycles News
A new report by a retailers' trade body has said that consumers have spent more money on credit cards with UK retailers in 2018 than they did in cash.
The chart below shows a payment survey undertaken by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which shows that debit cards remained to be the form of payment with most money being spent through it, accounting for £216.4bn of sales, whilst cash dropped to the third most popular at ££77.7bn. Credit and charge cards accounted for £81.9bn, or 22%, of retail sales last year - outstripping cash for the first time in the last 20 years of BRC payment surveys.
However, cash was actually still used more frequently than credit cards, although the typical transaction using cash was worth over £20 less than the average credit card payment of £31.54. Cash accounted for just over £1 in every £5 spent with UK shops.
The BRC argued that rising costs faced by retailers to process card payments could push up prices. Andrew Cregan, policy adviser at the BRC, said that falling cash use and growth of online shopping were both factors in the shift. A cashless society is cause for concern for vulnerable people, such as those with physical or mental health problems, who find it hard to use digital services, people who have been bankrupt, or those who use cash as a lifeline when in difficult or abusive relationships, could also be severely affected.
Despite this, the BRC outlined their main concern to be for retailers and the cost of accepting card payments. The BRC stated that the average cost faced by a retailer for a debit card transaction was 6.23p, rising to 18.19p for credit or charge cards, compared with 1.66p for cash, and these costs continue to rise sharply.
Card Processing with ActSmart
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Global Payments
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Paya Card Services
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For more information about either of the ActSmart card processing partners please visit the ActSmart website.
