Shoppers are turning away from credit cards when it comes to paying for goods, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The group's Cost of Payment Collection Survey, which looked at eight billion transactions in 2010, found that the number of people using credit cards fell by 12.9 per cent year-on-year. The number of debit card transactions however rose by 15.8 per cent.
The BRC said while the volume of cash transactions was down on 2009, it was actually used for a greater proportion of overall retail spending. It suggests increasing reliance on cash and debit cards is an indicator of just how keen consumers are to keep track of their spending.
Retailers will certainly be pleased with the results of the survey as credit cards represent an additional cost. Last year retailers spent an average of 1.7p per cash transaction to get the money into their bank account. A single credit card transaction however cost them an average of 31.7p.
Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Hard-pressed customers are switching to cash and debit cards for the reassurance that they can't spend what they haven't got. At the same time, use of credit cards has dropped sharply.
"Cash remains king – used for more than half of all retail payments."
