Total card spending in the UK reached £57.1 billion in June, up by 0.3 per cent on May and seven per cent on June 2016, the latest UK Finance figures show.

There were just under 1.4 billion card payments in June, a monthly record and a 12 per cent rise in the last 12 months. This is the highest annual rate of growth in the number of payments since June 2008, driven by a robust rise in online (20 per cent) and contactless (143 per cent) purchases.

Retail sector spending rose by £19 million in June to reach £26.1 billion. The largest increase in retail sector spending was on food and drink, which passed £10 billion in June, while service sector spending rose by £138 million to £31 billion. The debit and credit card share of total retail sales was 77 per cent in June.

Contactless payments accounted for 34 per cent of all card transactions, while online payments accounted for 13 per cent.

However, the average transaction value on all card payments fell by 16p to £41.36 in June, the lowest level since 2000. This compares to £43.53 a year ago and £50.55 at the peak in July 2011.

Richard Koch, head of cards at UK Finance, said: “Contactless payments accounted for a third of transactions in June with consumers continuing to use their cards for lower value purchases. While spending recorded a relatively modest monthly growth, the number of transactions rose at a faster rate with some 46 million card purchases made every day.”

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