February credit and debit card spending up

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.

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

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."