Credit card debt rises by 6.6%

Outstanding balances on credit card accounts have grown by 6.6 per cent over the twelve months to September and 49.4 per cent of outstanding balances incurred interest compared to 50.1 per cent in September 2023 according to latest card spending date from UK Finance

The data showed 2.2 billion debit card transactions in September, 4.5 per cent more than in September 2023. The total spend of £65 billion was 6 per cent lower than September 2023.

There were also 383 million credit card transactions in September, 8.6 per cent more than in September 2023. The total spend of £21.2 billion was 9.5 per cent higher than September 2023.

There were 2.10 billion debit and credit card transactions in the UK in September, 0.2 per cent more than in September 2023. The total spend of £73 billion was 9.1 per cent lower than September 2023. Contactless payments accounted for 65 per cent of all credit card and 77 per cent of all debit card transactions.

There were 1.57 billion contactless card transactions in September, 1 per cent more than the 1.55 billion in September 2023. The total value of contactless transactions was £24.5 billion in September, a 3 per cent increase on £23.8 billion in September 2023.

The number of contactless credit card transactions was 4.3 per cent higher than September 2023. The number of contactless debit card transactions was 0.5 per cent higher than September 2023.