UK Finance, the financial sector trade body, said staycations helped explain why activity on debit cards overseas was 13% lower this August than a year ago. In its latest debit card report, UK Finance said: “Activity in August was 13% lower than a year ago in both value and volume terms. UK Finance’s data for August 2017 showed a rise in the total use of debit cards when compared with the previous month as the school holidays got into full swing. UK Finance, created when a number of industry lobby groups merged this year, said higher inflation and the uncertain economic backdrop since Brexit had also influenced the use of debit cards. The growing use of contactless cards is among the reasons for the fall in the average transaction value on debit cards used in the UK to £38.37, down from £41.82 a year ago and £48.70 seven years ago when it peaked.

Source: The Guardian October 09, 2017 16:07 UTC