Debit card usage climbed by 12.4 per cent during the period, while the level of transactions carried out on the Faster Payments system – used for transferring money between accounts – jumped significantly by 67 per cent as more banks made the service available to their customers.  The increased use of debit cards also reduced the amount of cash used.  The amount of cash withdrawn from cash points, seen as a proxy for the amount of cash used for transactions, was 3.2 per cent or £1.6 billion lower than during the same quarter of the previous year.  Credit card spending was also weak, rising by 3.9 per cent, barely ahead of inflation, due to the lack of credit, and increased debit card usage.  Repayments continued to match new spending on credit cards, as consumers shied away from increasing their borrowings.  Sandra Quinn, director of communications at the Payments Council, said: “The payments revolution continues apace in the UK.  “Cheque usage is shrinking dramatically, while credit cards hold less appeal for consumers and businesses.  “We use cash less where there is an easy alternative, but we're years away from cash falling out of fashion.”  But she added that the overall payments figures showed a “distinct lack of energy” in the economy, with the total value of all payments during the second quarter 0.6 per cent lower than during the previous year.  Ron Delnevo, chairman of the ATM Industry Association, said: “It is hardly surprising when card payments are in many instances being more or less forced on reluctant consumers or presented as the only "fashionable" means of making a retail purchase. This seems somewhat perverse when contrasted with the British public’s long-held preference for cash.”  And he added: “There is perhaps instead a strong case for engaging some of the pool of talented people who are currently unemployed to provide a human face to customer payments. Genuine choice in payment methods and high service standards will give the British economy the best opportunity of growing.”
Shoppers are using fewer cheques to pay for goods than last year as they    switch to faster and more convenient payment methods, figures suggest.