UK payment card spending in March 2017 was £57.8 billion, up £335 million (0.6 per cent) on February, with contactless payments now representing almost a third of all card purchases, the latest figures from The UK Cards Association show.

Contactless payments amounted to 32 per cent of card purchases, an increase of 15 per cent from the previous year, with total contactless spending in March coming in at £4 billion.

Online spending came in at £15.3 billion, representing 27 per cent of purchases and a five per cent increase on March 2016.

Within the retail sector, card spending grew by £179 million in March, to £26.2 billion. The largest increases came from food and drink and mixed business. Spending within the service sector grew by £156 million to £34.6 billion, with the financial services sector a strong contributor to growth.

The debit and credit card share of total national retail sales was 78.4 per cent in March. There was a considerable growth in spending at garden centres (up 93 per cent) and on gardening services (up 60 per cent) coinciding with the first month of spring.

Richard Koch, head of policy at The UK Cards Association, said: “Cards are the default way to pay for millions of consumers and this is reflected by the increase in card spending month-on-month. Even with a slowdown in economic growth card spending has continued to remain robust, underlining the role cards play for consumers.”

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