Its going up again: credit card usage in the UK looks set to continue increasing even after going through the roof last year in yet another yearly increase. Its really beginning to look like this is a trend that will run and run...

Despite being a tricky year for credit card providers, as security issues finally impacted the market, 2005 saw 1,930 million credit card transactions made in the UK, to a total of 154.5 billion. While, with respect to Visa and MasterCard: Credit outstanding in the UK rose by 1.187 million, to stand at 68.4 billion, some 6.1% above the level a year earlier (stats from http://www.bba.org.uk ).

Initially, the introduction of pin and chip technology to credit cards in the UK was seen as potentially damaging, however it turns out that electronic chip using credit cards, allied with required customer pin input upon purchase has actually been considered to be greatly beneficial to the consumer.

With this increased security has come an upsurge in usage. Credit has become more deeply ingrained in the UK high street, with the end result being the heavy promotion by high street retailers of store cards; helping to leverage credit card usage in everyday transactions.

Indeed, where once the credit card was solely used for major purchases, those days seem impossibly distant as today we have an increased number of credit cards in our pockets being used for an innumerable array of purchases.

Advantages like insurance cover for goods purchased have become vital in the e-commerce market, where the added reassurance credit card insurance can bring often tips the scales in favour of a purchase for the borderline e-consumer. There has also been a real boom in the purchase of music online as products like Apples iPod create new markets for the music e-consumer.

And it is the availability of information about those cards that has enabled us to pad out our wallets. Searching through the financial options available online by hand is a thankless task, and part of the reason for the upsurge in popularity of credit cards and other short term loan packages has been the emergence of online financial database sites for credit cards uk, allowing for easy searching of financial products from a single website.

It is worth sounding a note of caution, as increases in debt should always be taken on responsibly it is, therefore, encouraging to note that as the number of credit cards in our pockets grows, so too, it seems, does consumer knowledge. We increasingly use the internet to keep tabs on financial trends, and we appear to be using that knowledge to get the best possible deals.

Is this the emergence of the consumer empowerment confidently predicted year in, year out by financial analysts? In the UK at least, it might be.

Disclaimer
All information contained in this article is for general information purpose only and should not be construed as advice under the financial Services act 1986. You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.