Shoppers spent record £13.2bn online with cards in November, says industry body

A record £13.2 billion was spent online in November using cards as consumers took advantage of shopping bonanzas such as Black Friday, according to an industry body.

The UK Cards Association said the monthly online spending total is the highest since its records started in January 2014.

The £13.2 billion spent online equated to 24% of all debit and credit card spending in November. Card spending online had surged by 12% compared with a year earlier.

Earlier this week, the association said a record £2.9 billion was spent using contactless "tap and go" payments in November. Around one in every four card payments is now contactless.

Overall, payment card spending amounted to £56 billion in November, up by 1% on October - the strongest growth in four months.

Within this total, £40 billion was spent using debit cards in November and £16 billion was spent using credit cards.

Looking at card spending overall, debit card spending grew by 4.6% annually, while credit card spending increased more slowly, by 2.3% year-on-year.

The debit and credit card share of total retail sales was 76.7% in November.

The association said spending on hobbies, toys and games and at department stores saw particularly sharp monthly growth as the Christmas shopping season got under way.

The average debit card payment is for £40.07, while the average credit card payment is for £55.03.

The typical online card payment is for £80.21, while the typical contactless payment is for £8.95, the report said.

Richard Koch, head of policy at the UK Cards Association, said: "November saw the strongest monthly growth in card spending in four months, with debit cards accounting for most of the increase at the start of the Christmas shopping season.

"The record spend online highlights the importance of card payments in internet retail, and the wider economy too."