UK – 91% of the adult population have a debit card; each debit cardholder made on average 205 transactions in 2012

July 3, 2013 – The UK Cards Association says that Brits (47 million cardholders throughout the UK), passed the 200 mark for the first time in terms of annual number of transactions per cardholder. The average is six times higher than Romanian figure for annual cards usage.

This is partly because there are now 32 million contactless cards in circulation in the UK and their use is increasingly rapidly, reflecting an increased willingness to pay for small value purchases with plastic. At the end of 2012 they were used to make 70 transactions per minute but this had risen to 120 a minute by March and is predicted to hit 300 per minute at the end of 2013.

In contrast, 30 million credit and charge cardholders made just 2.2 billion purchases, worth £140 billion, between them, averaging 68 transactions a year.

The UK Cards Association says that Brits used debit cards to make 7.7 billion purchases, worth £337 billion last year, accounting for half of the value of all retail sales. More, 73% of all retail spending that takes place on the high street is made using cards.

This migration away from cash and cheques has been encouraged by the growing number of point-of -sale terminals and the number of UK retail outlets accepting cards. Over the past decade this number has increased by 64% to stand at over 1 million businesses who accept cards.

For the first time, 2012 also saw debit overtake credit for online spending – £35 billion, compared to £34 billion. Total online card spending increased by £5 billion to £68 billion – 15% of all personal card spending.

The association predicts that cards will see their dominance over the likes of cash and cheques grow over the next decade, with the value of transactions nearly doubling to £840 million. This will be driven by the young, who have grown up with cards, the continued rise of contactless payments, and technological innovation that allows payments to be made using mobile phones rather than cards.

UK plastics cards report 2013 – download here