Transaction volumes point to spending increase that could prove positive for retailers

Transaction volumes point to spending increase that could prove positive for retailers

Data from Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance shows payments made on credit and debit cards were up 7.1% in February compared to the same month last year. The increase follows on from figures that showed that credit and debit card spending was up 3.6% in January 2010 compared to January 2009.

While February 2010 showed an increase over the previous year, on a month-by-month basis, spending on debit and credit cards declined slightly by 2.5% from January, in line with expectations.

Index suggests things “looking up”

The Barclaycard Retail Card Spending Index is based on spending on all credit and debit cards across a wide range of retail sectors, at retailers that use Barclaycard to process their credit and debit card transactions. Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance processes payments for 87,000 businesses in the UK both physically and online – about a third of the market.

Commenting on the data, Stuart Neal, head of UK Payment Acceptance said: "The numbers show that things are looking up for retailers this year. The small drop from last month is typical of what we see at this time of year and is caused by the residual effects of the January sales and households returning to a more regular spending pattern."

With an overall market share of over 30%, Global Payment Acceptance captures a significant proportion of all retail transactions in the UK. The index is based on the analysis of the 12-month variation in volumes of card transactions month-on-month, and incorporates specific filters to ensure the data is not affected by changes to the customer base over time.