Debit card paying Brits lose out on cashback millions

Tom Allder, Vice President UK Lending, American Express, said: "We're on a quest to get UK householders to ditch their debit card payments. Each British household is paying out thousands of pounds a year on debit cards for everyday items such as supermarket shopping and petrol. Simply by paying for these items using a cashback card or reward card, instead of using a debit card, people could be earning themselves hundreds of pounds of free cash."

With APACS figures showing that debit card payments are on the increase, the average UK household is missing out on hundreds of pounds of free cashback a year warns American Express.

According to American Express research, credit cards are used most frequently to pay for more expensive items such as a new kitchen, bathroom, the main family holiday, or jewellery. However, many people are still paying for these bigger ticket items using debit cards, cheques and cash and are missing out on potential cashback and rewards which could be earned by paying for these items on a credit card.

Top 5 areas where credit cardholders spend cashback earned according to American Express research:

A quarter (25%) save it
Over a fifth (21%) use it towards household bills
11% put it towards something special for themselves/ their family
One in ten put it towards the cost of Christmas
9% - spend it on entertainment

The American Express market leading Platinum Cashback Credit Card offers:

5% cashback for the first three months for spend up to £2,000
0.5% cashback for aggregate amounts up to £3,500 thereafter
1% cashback for aggregate amounts from £3,501 to £10,000
1.5% cashback for aggregate amounts over £10,000.
Ongoing purchase APR of 18.9% (variable)