Credit Card Usage in Great Britain
29th October 2007
APACS, the UK payments association, has released the results of a study looking at the payment habits of adults in every region of Britain. The South East of England has more credit card holders per head of population than any other region - 75 per cent of adults, compared with the national total of 67 per cent.
Nationally, of those who own a credit card, 68% always or usually repay the full balance on their credit cards each month, with Yorkshire and the Humber the highest at 75%, more than 7% above the national average and Greater London the lowest at 64%.
The average adult in Britain now makes 16.5 purchases a year over the internet with a debit or credit card. Across Britain adults withdraw cash on average 57 times over the course of a year and only 38% of adults now use cheques on a regular basis.
"While the national statistics show that as a nation we are generally comfortable with the many types of payment methods available and good at managing our finances, there is always room for improvement. We should all be taking advantage of the wealth of payment options out there, so managing our finances is as easy, secure and convenient as possible” said Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS.
