Barclaycard Reveals Christmas Spending Increased In 2009

Released on: January 13, 2010, 4:03 am
Author: Barclaycard
Industry: Financial

Barclaycard Payment Acceptance reveals spending on credit and debit cards was up this Christmas compared with last year.

Barclaycard Payment Acceptance, one of the largest processors of debit and credit card transactions in the UK has announced that shoppers spent more on debit and credit cards from 19 December to 31 December 2009* compared to the same period last year. This new data from Barclaycard provides a snapshot of how customers of all UK banks and credit cards were using their cards over this period.

The data showed that the busiest day prior to Christmas Day for turnover came on the 23 December with £497m being spent. After Christmas Day, sales peaked on the 29 December with £376m being spent.

Other highlights from the data include:

- Total turnover over the period was £4,085m compared to £3,989m in the same period in 2008 - a 2.4% increase
- Post Christmas spending up in 2009 against 2008 - £1,683m versus £1,642m
- Christmas Day - £24m over 0.7m individual transactions processed
- Christmas Day transactions peaked at 12.08pm with 32 transactions a second
- Boxing Day saw an average credit card transaction of £72.46. This was largely driven by the DIY and electronic stores sectors
- Online retailers saw £9.5m of turnover on Christmas Day compared to £8.1m for Christmas Day 2008 - an increase of 17%

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."

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Notes to editors
*Forecast for spending on 31st December 2009

About Barclaycard Payment Acceptance
Barclaycard Payment Acceptance runs one of the UK's largest debit and credit card acceptance networks. It processes debit and credit card transactions for 88,000 retailers, including some of the biggest names on the high street, across the UK.

About Barclaycard
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global Retail Banking division, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle and Far East.

Key facts published in August 2009;
- number of UK customers: 11.9m
- number of International customers: 11.8m
- number of retailer/merchant relationships: 88,000

PR contact:
Andrew Bond
Barclaycard Press Office
Barclaycard
1234 Pavilion Drive
Northampton
NN4 7SG
01604 251229
www.barclaycard.co.uk