Payment card spending update for July 2021 and a comparison on 2020

Payment card spending covers the monthly value and volume of transactions across debit and credit cards, both in the UK, and of UK-issued cards across the world. This data also covers outstanding balances on credit cards, card issuance and contactless payments.

Key Data Highlights:

Annual data comparisons are impacted by the reduction of lockdown restrictions and the economy re-opening from April 2021, resulting in large percentage variations when compared to 2020. Comparisons with July 2019 have therefore been included below to provide additional context:

Card transactions by UK cardholders both in the UK and overseas:

• There were 1.9 billion debit card transactions in July, 21% more than in July 2020 and 16.6% more than July 2019. The total spend of £60.7 billion was 3.1% lower than July 2020 but 12.4% higher than July 2019.
• There were 312 million credit card transactions in July, 19.1% more than in July 2020 but 4.6% fewer than July 2019. The total spend of £16 billion was 15.6% higher than July 2020 but 13.7% less than July 2019.
• Outstanding balances on credit card accounts have contracted by 7.3% over the twelve months to July, as a result of repayments outstripping new borrowing in the year.

Card transactions made in the UK by cardholders from both the UK and from overseas countries:

• There were 1.9 billion debit and credit card transactions in the UK in July, 21.9% more than in July 2020 and 8.5% more than July 2019. The total spend of £69.4 billion was 5.5% higher than July 2020 and 8.3% higher than July 2019.
• Contactless payments accounted for 52% of all credit card and 67% of all debit card transactions.
• There were 1,222 million contactless card transactions in July, 37.8% more than the 887 million in July 2020 and 59.6% more than the 766 million in July 2019. The total value of contactless transactions was £14.9 billion in July, a 37.9% increase on £10.8 billion in July 2020 and 107.4% increase on £7.2 billion in July 2019.
• The number of contactless credit card transactions was 46% higher than July 2020 and 30.9% higher than July 2019. The number of contactless debit card transactions was 36.6% higher than July 2020 and 64.9% higher than July 2019.