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May cools high street spending


WEBWIRE

Consumer spending on credit and debit cards on the high street dropped in May following a bumper April, according to the latest figures from the Barclaycard Spending Index. The amount spent on credit and debit cards, both in-store and online, fell by 2.7% in May compared to the previous month. The decrease had been anticipated as retailers had benefited from consumer spending in April being boosted by two bank holidays and the Royal Wedding.

Whilst May’s figures saw a drop in spending, the index was up 5.8% year-on-year compared to May 2010.

Richard Armstrong, Head of Barclaycard UK Payment Acceptance said: “Helped by record breaking weather, the Royal Wedding and Easter Bank Holidays, retailers enjoyed a successful month during April. However, it was to be expected that levels would drop slightly following such an unprecedented month of trading and our results for May reflect this.”

The Barclaycard Spending Index is based on spending on all credit and debit cards, across 44 retail sectors. Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance processes credit and debit card payments for 87,000 businesses in the UK, around 30% of the UK market.
Notes to Editors:

Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance enables businesses to accept credit and debit card payments. The data in this index relates to retailers’ credit and debit card transactions processed by Barclaycard rather than purchases made with a Barclaycard.

With an overall market share of over 30%, Global Payment Acceptance captures a significant proportion of all retail transactions in the UK. The index is based on the variation in volumes of credit and debit card transactions and provides both a year-on-year and month-on-month comparison. The index incorporates a number of specific filters to ensure the data is not affected by changes to the Barclaycard GPA customer base over time.

The index does not take into account the effects of any cash payments made to retailers.

The index does not adjust for price increases/decreases but measures the value of credit and debit card spending at retailers that use Barclaycard to process their card payments.

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global and Retail Banking division, is a leading global payment business which understands the needs of both purchasers and sellers. It enables retailers and merchants to accept cards, helps customers make payments through card, contactless and mobile applications as well as extending credit to consumers. The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit. In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe and Africa.



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