Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
UK Finance has published its latest card spending data which has found that outstanding balances on credit card accounts have grown by 9.5 per cent over the twelve months to February 2024 and 50 per cent of outstanding balances incurred interest compared to 51.2 per cent in February 2023.
The data showed that there were 329.8 million credit card transactions in February, 8.6 per cent more than in February 2023. The total spend of £18.8 billion was 8.9 per cent higher than February 2023.
There were 2.06 billion debit card transactions in February, 6.7 per cent more than in February 2023. The total spend of £60.9 billion was 0.5 per cent higher than February 2023.
There were 1.96 billion debit and credit card transactions in the UK in February, 7.7 per cent more than in February 2023. The total spend of £67.7 billion was 1.9 per cent higher than February 2023.
Contactless payments accounted for 63 per cent of all credit card and 75 per cent of all debit card transactions.
There were 1.44 billion contactless card transactions in February, 8.5 per cent more than the 1.33 billion in February 2023. The total value of contactless transactions was £22.1 billion in February, a 11.3 per cent increase on £19.8 billion in February 2023.
The number of contactless credit card transactions was 10.9 per cent higher than February 2023. The number of contactless debit card transactions was 8.1 per cent higher than February 2023.
Janine Randolph, Head of Data Management at UK Finance, said Growth in credit card balances outstanding was largely unchanged in the year to February, but the volume of balances incurring interest fell a little during the same period. This partly reflects the continuing rising cost of goods and, reassuringly, means we haven’t seen signs of a fall in consumers’ ability to manage their credit card repayments. Consumers worried about repaying their credit card bill should get in touch with their lender early to discuss the options available for help”
