Hond Financial

There has been an increase in the use of debit and credit cards, third-quarter statistics reveal.

More people may have been spending on their credit cards balance during the last quarter if new figures are anything to go by.

Statistics released by the Payments Council show that the number of plastic card purchases rose during the three months.

Figures obtained from UK Cards Association, Link, Bacs, Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and Chaps have shown that there have been no major changes in the use of debit and credit cards despite the recession.

According to the Payments Council, this form of payment – which could have been used with a 0% purchases credit card term – rose throughout the period.

There was infact a 6.9 per cent jump in card usage, in addition to the value of purchases made, which also increased by 4.3 per cent.

Although credit card spending by value dropped by 0.7 per cent, the number of sales was up by 2.5 percent.

Furthermore, gross lending on this form of plastic – including products with a 0% balance transfer – was 7.5 per cent lower than the previous quarter.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications for the Payments Council commented on the findings, saying they reflect stability in the use of plastic, even though reports of some commentators have suggested people turn to their credit cards in tough economic circumstances.

"These statistics confirm what has been a trend for a couple of years," she said.

Ms Quinn added: "Spending on credit cards has remained relatively unchanged and interestingly we are still repaying proportionately more of our debt than we were three years ago".

According to Adrian Coles, director general of BSA, the emerging trends of paying off debts was prompted by the low base rate set by the Bank of England.

He spoke to the Telegraph, noting the lack of an incentive to save when the base rate stands at 0.5 percent.

Mr Coles said that as a result, there has been a decline in the savings balances in UK accounts.

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