Research from Apacs released earlier this week provided the news that debit card purchases have, for the first time in history, outstripped cash spending in terms of the amount of money splashed out underlining the flexibility which people today appreciate when it comes to making everyday buys.
The figures showed that in 2005 people spent some 89 billion using debit cards, which was a significant increase of nine per cent on the previous year’s amount and eclipsed the cash spending total of 81 billion.
Indeed, the cash figure was a four per cent decrease on that of 2004 emphasising the noteworthy swing in spending habits which has manifested itself over a period of 12 months.
Broken down, debit cards formed 37 per cent of Brits’ retail spending over the course of 2005 while cash accounted for 34 per cent. With credit cards added into the mix, card spending as a whole made up some two-thirds of overall retail outlay in the UK.
Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS (http://www.apacs.org.uk ), spoke of the path which spending patterns have taken over the past couple of years, saying: “At the end of 2004, we saw total UK...