Credit card spending continues to rise

Latest UK Finance data releases has shown tha credit card spending and transactions increased in August 2024.

The data showed that there were 381 million credit card transactions in August, 1.3 per cent more than in August 2023. The total spend of £20.9 billion was 1.9 per cent higher than in August 2023.

There were 2.3 billion debit card transactions in August, 3.3 per cent more than in August 2023. The total spend of £66 billion was 0.7 per cent lower than in August 2023.

Outstanding balances on credit card accounts have grown by 7.4 per cent over the twelve months to August and 49.1 per cent of outstanding balances incurred interest compared to 50.0 per cent in August 2023.

Further analysis showed that here were 2.16 billion debit and credit card transactions in the UK in August, 1.8 per cent more than in August 2023. The total spend of £73.1 billion was 1.4 per cent lower than in August 2023.

Contactless payments accounted for 66 per cent of all credit card and 77 per cent of all debit card transactions.There were 1.64 billion contactless card transactions in August, 4.1 per cent more than the 1.57 billion in August 2023. The total value of contactless transactions was £26.1 billion in August, a 6.2 per cent increase on £24.6 billion in August 2023.

The number of contactless credit card transactions was 7.6 per cent higher than in August 2023. The number of contactless debit card transactions was 3.5 per cent higher than in August 2023.