BRC Payments Survey shows continued shift from cash to cards
UK card use rose from 54% of transactions in 2016 to 61% in 2019, according to research from the British Retail Consortium.
This trend has accelerated under the coronavirus pandemic, with more customers shopping online or paying by card in-store.
At the same time, the cost to retailers of accepting payments reached £1.1 billion in 2019, of which £950 million was from cards. While the latter account for four in every five pounds spent in retail, they also incur the largest costs with shops charged an average of 18.4p per credit card transaction (up 15% from 2016), and 5.9p for every debit card transaction (up 6% from 2016).
Furthermore, businesses have received notices in the past year of new fees that will now be charged to accept payments online. The BRC is warning that these costs, equivalent to £40 per household, will be reflected in consumer prices.
Andrew Cregan, Head of Finance Policy, British Retail Consortium, says: “With card payments accounting for almost 80% of retail sales, it is vital that the government takes action to tackle excessive card costs. Without action we will see businesses put under further pressure and it will be consumers who are forced to pay the price.”
James Lowman, Chief Executive, Association of Convenience Stores, comments: “The way that customers pay in convenience stores is continuing to diversify and the costs that must be met by retailers to provide these options are rising.”
“Recent years have seen the financing of ATMs undermined, causing many machines to become fee-charging regardless of retailer preferences, and some parts of card fees double for retailers.”
“There are two priorities for retailers here: everyone would benefit from a restored national network supplying access to cash, and action is needed to allow retailers to effectively find the best deal and switch card payments providers,” he concludes.
