Christmas shoppers defy debt fears with record spree

Sunday Telegraph (London, England)

Paul Farrow

January 4, 2004

BARCLAYCARD customers spent more on their cards in the run up to Christmas this winter than they did in 2002, despite general concerns about personal debt levels.

According to figures from Barclays, the amount spent by Barclaycard's 10m customers, plus those with the bank's Connect debit cards, rose by 8 per cent in the first three and a half weeks of December compared with the same month in 2002.

More than pounds 3.66bn was spent on the cards, it said, with the average transaction worth nearly pounds 50.

The amount of cash withdrawn from ATM machines was up 2 per cent to pounds 1.3bn in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The busiest machine was at the Alperton branch in Wembley, which dispensed pounds 1.31m. ATMs at branches in Wood Green, north London ( pounds 1.29m) and Kirkby, Merseyside ( pounds 1.28m) were not far behind.

Figures published by the Bank of England on Friday showed that UK shoppers had spent a record pounds 11.56bn on their credit cards during November, significantly up on the pounds 10.14bn spent on plastic in November 2002.

Consumers now owe a total of pounds 52.92bn, although strong repayments meant that overall credit card debt rose by pounds 574m during November, compared with pounds 693m in October and a record pounds 818m in June.

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