InstabillInstabill
  • Merchant Services
    • Credit Card Processing
    • Fraud Protection
    • Merchant Account Fees
    • Merchant Accounts
    • Payment Gateway
  • Partner Program
  • Supported Industries
  • Knowledge Center
    • Articles
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Instabill Newsletter
    • Instabill’s White Papers
    • About the Company
  • Contact Us
  • Sign Up
  • Blog
  • 800-318-2713
card payments

Card Payments in UK Become Preferred Method

December 21, 2015Dylan FreniIndustry NewsNo comments

It’s no secret that the landscape of the payments industry is drastically changing. It has been changing for some time. The advent of the internet and the increases in payment technology over the past decade have encouraged some methods to evolve over others. At the end of 2015, we see card payments emerge as the clear favorite, as the total revenue from which totals more that 500 billion pounds.

With almost three quarters of all transactions in the UK being processed with card payments, what can we expect in the future? Will cash become irrelevant as many tend to speculate? There are no easy answers to these questions, so for now, we can only look at the numbers.

Breaking Down the Transaction Data

The Guardian recently highlighted the massive switch to card payments, and presented valuable data on when and why consumers chose to move to using cards over cash and checks. Card spending in the UK surpassed cash spending in 2004, but it wasn’t until recently that it appeared to be the standard for nearly 75% of the country.

Some other notable information from the article explains how cards are used in the UK, along with other characteristics of average consumer spending:

  • Average supermarket bills dropped by nine pounds over ten years, but the total card payment revenue from supermarket shopping doubled to 99.5 billion pounds by 2014.
  • Mobile payments have contributed to the rise in card payments, with 2.6 billion pounds coming from contactless payments in the first half of 2015 alone.
  • Debit cards make up just over half of all card payments, beating credit cards by a slight margin. Experts believe this could be due to leftover caution from the 2008 financial crisis.
  • There were 1.3 billion card payments in 2014, worth 119 billion pounds. That number is expected to keep growing in the coming years.

What it All Means for Merchants

If you’re an e-commerce or retail merchant, this is undoubtedly good news. As payment methods become more convenient, people will be more likely to shop and use their money. While we can’t rule out cash or checks just yet, the growth of card payments in the UK is a positive sign for the future. Most consumers are not afraid to leave their comfort zone when it comes to spending money, and if the payment method is convenient enough—like mobile payments—it could mean extra cash for merchants all around the globe.

Tags: card payments, credit cards, e-commerce
Dylan Freni
Dylan Freni is a copywriter at Instabill. He writes articles for the company’s nine websites, including three articles per week for the Instabill blog. Frequent topics include merchant services, payments industry news, e-commerce tips, and merchant account how-tos.
Previous post Instabill’s New Partnership Caters to High Risk Solutions Next post 3 Reasons Why Bitcoin Value is Eyeing $500

Related Articles

Back to Basics: What You Should Know as a Start-Up E-Commerce Merchant — Part 3

March 28, 2012Stephanie Mann

The One Key to Averting Operation Choke Point

November 4, 2015Chris O'Donnell

Accepting International Payments for Small Businesses

June 24, 2013Stephanie Mann

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Fueling Stations Tackle Credit Card Counterfeiting
  • Objective and Results-Focused: A Chargebacks911 Review
  • In the Merchant Account Sales Cycle, Leave a Lasting Imprint
  • New Visa Security Requirements Tackle Data Breach Trend
  • Instabill Partner Program: How We Do It

Recent Comments

  • Arnie on 7 Deadly Sins of E-Commerce Credit Card Processing
  • James Varney on In the Merchant Account Sales Cycle, Leave a Lasting Imprint
  • Wendy on Instabill Partner Program: How We Do It
  • Prince chandan on Instabill’s New Partnership Caters to High Risk Solutions
  • Wendy on Why do I need a payment processor?

Archives

  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011

Categories

  • Business Tips
  • Fraud Prevention
  • Industry News
  • Instabill News
  • Merchant Accounts
  • Our Stories
  • Partner Program
  • Support and Services
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Contact Us

Contact us using the form below

* These fields are required.

Contact Us

875 Greenland Road
Portsmouth, NH, USA
International: +1 603-436-1270
US Toll Free: +1 800-318-2713
US Fax: +1 603-436-1207

Resources

  • Instabill Merchant Support
  • Site Map
  • About Instabill
  • Careers at Instabill
  • Instabill Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Security Policy

Connect With Instabill

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
LinkedIn
YouTube
Instagram
Pinterest
Skype
Tumblr
SoundCloud
Yelp

¡Se habla Español!
On parle français!
نتكلم العربية

Copyright © Instabill 2001-2016