There are now more than 100 million debit cards in circulation in the UK for the first time.The milestone was passed in April, the latest figures from The UK Cards Association show.
The number of debit cards in the UK has grown by 2.7 per cent in the past year, up from 97.6 million to 100.3 million in April 2016. The 50 million card mark was passed in February 2001. Meanwhile, debit card spending reached £37.8 billion in April, up 6.8 per cent from £36.5 billion the previous year.
The growth in the number of debit cards reflects the changing ways in which consumers make payments and access their money.Consumers opening new bank accounts routinely receive debit cards as standard.
The number of ATM-only cards has been falling substantially in recent years, while cheque guarantee-only cards ended with the closure of the scheme in 2011.
A total of 61.8 million debit cards now feature contactless technology.
Richard Koch, Head of Policy at The UK Cards Association, said: “Since they were first launched in the UK in June 1987, debit cards have become a prime feature in the nation’s wallets. Now, almost 30 years later, more than half of all retail sales in the UK are made using a debit card. More recently, it has been the growth of contactless, as well as the increasing use of debit cards for online shopping, that has been driving the changes.”
Total spending on payment cards in April was £53 billion, up by 0.9 per cent on March, the strongest monthly growth in 13 months. The number of card purchases also increased, also up by 0.9% in the month, reaching a total of just under 1.2 billion.
Contactless cards accounted for 16 per cent of total card purchases in April, up from six per cent in 2015. There were 188 million contactless transactions in the month, worth a total of £1.58 billion.
Current UK population 2016 (updated June 2016 using statistics for mid 2015):
. The population of the UK was estimated to be 65.1m
. The population of England was 54.8m
. The population of Scotland was 5.4m
. The population of Wales was 3.1m
. The population of Northern Ireland was 1.9m
There are 11.6m over 65s (17.8% of the population), up from 11.4m (17.7%)
UK population estimates and annual growth rates, 1960s to 2020s
Source: www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
