Cash withdrawals increase.
Christmas shoppers are using more cash this year, potentially at the expense of credit cards. Cash machine operator Link has reported that ATM withdrawals are up 7.1% for the first ten days of December compared to November. In the previous 4 years, this figure has been around 5%.
In November, the payments association APAC predicted a fall in cash spending of 5% over the Christmas period compared to 2006 and a predicted retail spend of £53billion. This predicted spending would be a rise of 4% compared to 2006 which APAC said would be fuelled by credit card spending.
However, it appears that worries about the ongoing credit crunch have led consumers to rein in credit card spending and use cash. According to retail spending figures from credit card company MasterCard weak sales were reported in November, slowing the annual retail sales growth rate down to 4% from 4.5%.