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Total UK card spending reached £57.1 billion in June, up by 0.3% month-on-month and up 7% year-on-year, according to data published by UK Finance, an industry body.
There were just under 1.4 billion card payments in the UK in June, a monthly record. And with the number of card transactions up 12% in 12 months, UK cards have enjoyed their highest annual rate of growth since June 2008.
The rise was partly driven by a robust rise in online sales, with online card payments rising 20%, but the more significant factor was the increase in the use of contactless card payments, which soared by 143%.
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Contactless payments accounted for 34% of all card transactions, while online payments – which would include payments made through channels like PayPal if the account is linked to a card rather than being pre-funded – accounted for 13%.
UK-issued debit card use abroad was actually down 3.6% between May and June, says UK Finance. Instead, growth in both credit and debit cards has come from domestic spending, especially in the retail market.