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Mastercard: Credit card spending down

Fri, 14 Oct 2005

People seem reluctant to charge purchases to their debit and credit cards, with September seeing a downward trend in debit and credit card spending.

Cautious spending on debit and credit cards is blamed on higher fuel prices, adding to a fall of 3.5 per cent in debit and credit card spending last month.

A total of £5.41 billion was spent on debit and credit cards in September, according to new figures by Mastercard Europe.

Spending on the high street slowed down considerably, with falls of 3.9 per cent in the leisure sector. Restaurants were the hardest hit, with debit and credit card spending 9.9 per cent down in eateries.

Debit and credit card holders in the UK are "tightening their belts", says Brian Moore, senior vice president of Mastercard Europe.

He believes consumers "feel the financial pinch" which is caused by higher prices of petrol and fuel.

The Bank of England reported lower credit card borrowing among UK consumers in August. Credit card holders borrowed £146 million less than in July, as they tried to repay their debt.

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