Use of credit on increase, say reports

Credit cards and debit cards account for 24p in every pound spent in shops in the first quarter of this year, according to a report published this week.

The report, Plastic Surge Checks Cash, by the Credit Card Research Group, shows the proportion of retail spending made with credit and debit cards in-creased from 19.4 per cent in 1993 to 22.4 per cent last year, and is likely to increase again this year.

The use of card varies from one sector to another. The highest proportion of card spending last year was through retailers such as chemists, book shops, newsagents and record stores.

Consumers use their cards least in the household sector (18.9p in the pound) and mixed business sector (17.6p in the pound).

A separate report by Datamonitor entitled UK Plastic Cards says that debit cards are set to overtake credit cards as the most frequently-used card by the end of the decade. It forecasts that there will be more than 37 million debit cards issued compared to 30 million credit cards by 2000.