Financial News

• Brown dismisses housing crisis fears (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Mortgage hope offered by bank (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Consumer morale 'falls again' (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Bristol & West withdraws deals (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Retirees feel 'unhappy due to no longer working' (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Severn Trent to be fined £36m (08 04 2008 04:15)
• Brown to announce first time buyers help (08 04 2008 04:15)
• UK bank details 'for sale by thieves' (08 04 2008 04:15)
• Last 100% mortgage to disappear (08 04 2008 04:15)
• High earners 'shut out of market' (08 04 2008 04:15)

Subscribe!

Cards 'used more often than cash'

Britons are increasingly preferring to pay by card - with both debit and credit cards beating out cash in transaction numbers in the UK.

New research from Fool.co.uk shows that 37 per cent of people use their debit cards regularly for "everyday spending" along with 32 per cent who use credit cards.

For cash, however, this figure came to just 29 per cent.

The financial website also found that 19 per cent are using cash and cards "interchangeably" - and that 33 per cent generally only have around £10 of cash on them at any one time.

However, this increasing dependence on plastic could change due to the credit crunch, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk David Kuo said.

"Plastic can be fantastic, but relying on money we can ' t see is a reflection of how easy it has been to rely on credit in recent years," he added.

"But since you are not paying in cash, it is all the more reason to take care as credit becomes more difficult to obtain."

Send this article to: