Spending on credit and debit cards up this Christmas

The 23rd December was the busiest shopping day before Christmas, according to Barclaycard Payment Acceptance, with consumers spending a collective £497m.

Since then, 29th December has proved the busiest post Christmas shopping day, with spending levels reaching £376m.

Barclaycard calculated the Christmas spending figures by analysing the transactions at the 88,000 UK retailers that used Barclaycard Payment Acceptance between 19th December and 31 December 2009.

The research found that shoppers spent more on debit and credit cards from 19th December to 31st December than they did in the same period last year.

The total turnover from 19th – 31st December 2009 was £4,085m compared to £3,989m in the same period in 2008 – a 2.4% increase
Post Christmas spending up in 2009 versus 2008 – £1,683m versus £1,642m.

On Christmas Day over 0.7m individual transactions were processed, peaking at 12.08 with 32 transactions a second. On Boxing Day, there was an average credit card transaction of £72.46, largely driven by the DIY and electronic stores sectors.

Marc Pettican, Head of Sales at Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance said:

“Our retailers have seen an increase in turnover compared to the same period last year with over £4 billion being spent. We’ve also seen a stronger post-Christmas performance as shoppers take advantage of the sales discounts and consider the effects of the imminent VAT increase”.