Payments Council publishes Christmas spending forecasts

Almost 12 percent of Christmas shopping using plastic cards is expected online this year – a five-fold increase over the past decade, according to the Payments Council which has released its UK consumer spending predictions for December.

It is estimated that overall spending on cards, cash and cheques will reach £82.7 billion, an increase of 1.2 percent from 2012, when the figure stood at £81.7 billion.

Most spending, including online, will be done on debit cards; £34 billion is predicted to be spent on debit cards, up by 152 percent since 2003. Credit card spending during December 2013 will stay flat at around £14 billion.

Cash spending will remain relatively flat, while cheque use is predicted to fall by 11 percent compared to last year. In total, during the past 10 years, consumer spending online has increased by 495 percent.