Debit card usage statistics UK: 2024

Quick overview

How many debit cards are there in the UK?

As of October 2023, 102 million debit cards were issued in the UK, and 94 million of these were contactless. This has increased slightly since March 2022, when there were around 101 million debit cards in circulation.

How many debit cards does the average person have?

According to external research, the average person has 1.95 debit cards. There is no limit on the number of debit cards you can have, but some people find 1 is sufficient, whereas others may have 2 or 3 that they use for slightly different purposes.

How many debit card transactions are made per day in the UK?

In March 2023, there were an average of 65.3 million transactions made daily in the UK. There were over 2 billion transactions on debit cards in the UK throughout the month, up by 6.5% compared to the 1.9 billion transactions made in March 2022.

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What is the average debit card spend in the UK?

The average debit card spend per transaction for March 2023 is £33.30. In comparison, the average transaction value for March 2022 was £32.87, meaning there was only a 1.3% increase.

How does the value of debit card transactions vary?

The majority of debit card transactions are made in the UK, and the value of transactions over the past year peaked in March 2023, with £67.4 billion being spent.

The lowest amount spent on debit cards in the UK over the past year was in February 2023, with a total value of £57.7 billion spent. This means that, in just 1 month, there was a 16.8% increase in total debit card spend in the UK.

The total spending from March 2022 to March 2023 equals £807.3 billion, which means that the average monthly spending from March 2022 to March 2023 is £62.1 billion.

As expected, the value of purchases made on UK debit cards outside the UK is significantly less than those made within the UK. Take the fact that only a little over £3.3 billion was spent out of the UK in March 2023 – this is less than 5% of the total value being spent in the UK.

The value of purchases made outside the UK varies seasonally due to people travelling abroad more in the summer months. In the colder months, like January 2023, there was a value of only just £3 billion spent. On the other hand, August 2022 had the highest spending, with a value of £3.8 billion, which is 16.3% higher than the amount spent in January.

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• Debit card statistics: 2020

  Quick stats

  • In 2017, debit cards overtook cash in the UK as the most common payment method.
  • As of September 2019, 97 million debit cards were in circulation in the UK, 84 million of which were contactless.
  • Back in 2019, nearly a third (29%) of Brits wanted the contactless limit to be no higher than £50. Over a quarter (28%) were content with the £30 cap, while 6% said contactless payments should not be allowed.
  • 1.6 billion transactions were carried out on debit cards by UK cardholders in September 2019. This was 10.4% more than in September 2018.
  • The total value of transactions made with debit cards in September 2019 was £51.1 billion. This was 2.0% more than in September 2018.
  • 98% of the population holds a debit card.
  • By 2024, it’s expected that debit cards will be responsible for half of all payments made in the UK.

  Purchases on debit cards

  Between September 2018 and September 2019, the number of purchases on debit cards increased by 10.4%. This is equivalent to 166.4 million more purchases made in September 2019 (1.6 billion) than in September 2018 (1.43 billion).

  • Graph
  • Table

  Month	Purchases on debit cardsby UK card holders (billions)
  May 18	1.371
  Jun 18	1.386
  Jul 18	1.398
  Aug 18	1.409
  Sep 18	1.418
  Oct 18	1.425
  Nov 18	1.433
  Dec 18	1.442
  Jan 19	1.452
  Feb 19	1.463
  Mar 19	1.475
  Apr 19	1.487
  May 19	1.500
  Jun 19	1.512
  Jul 19	1.522

  Since September 2018, the value of purchases made on debit cards has increased by £1.02 billion (2.0%). In September 2019, the total value of purchases made on debit cards by UK cardholders was £51.1 billion. Despite increasing over summer and autumn, interestingly, during the winter months, the value of purchases took a dip. Over the last year, spending on debit cards reached its lowest point in January 2019 (£49.73 billion).

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  • Table

  Month	Value of purchases in billions
  May 18	£49.73
  Jun 18	£49.89
  Jul 18	£49.99
  Aug 18	£50.14
  Sep 18	£50.18
  Oct 18	£50.09
  Nov 18	£49.94
  Dec 18	£49.79
  Jan 19	£49.73
  Feb 19	£49.80
  Mar 19	£49.98
  Apr 19	£50.19
  May 19	£50.38
  Jun 19	50.539
  Jul 19	50.671

  Contactless debit cards

  Over two-thirds (69%) of Brits used contactless technology while spending with their card in 2018. In the UK, 97 million debit cards are in circulation, and 84 million of these (86.6%) are contactless. By July 2019, there were 131 million contactless cards in total in circulation in the UK, of which 64.12% were debit cards.

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  	Percentage	Number of debit cards (million)
  Contactless debit cards	86.60%	84
  Non-contactless debit cards	13.40%	13

  Debit cards for children

  If you are under 18 years old, you will need help from a parent or a legal guardian to get your hands on a debit card. If you’re looking to monitor your child’s (6-18 years old) spending GoHenry could be a great option. GoHenry specialises in debit cards for under 18s, where the guardian can use an application to monitor the child’s or teen’s spending. But if you are looking for an average current account, fear not – many banks offer children’s accounts and debit cards.

  Bank	Age limit	Name of account
  Santander	13 years
  HSBC:	7 years	MySavings account
  Monzo	16 years
  Revolut	Planning to launch accounts for children
  N26	No children’s account available
  Natwest	11 years	Adapt account
  Halifax	11 years	ExpressCash account
  NationWide	16 years	FlexOne account
  Lloyds Bank	11 years	Under 19s account
  Barclays	11 years	BarclayPlus

  Common frauds and how to prevent them

  Cases of fraud are becoming more and more common. In 2018, £641.4 billion was lost thanks to fraud in the UK, a 16% increase from the year before. Luckily, £1.66 billion worth of fraudulent transactions were prevented. Some fraudulent scams are very well-designed and seem completely legitimate, so you can never be too careful. To prevent becoming a victim of fraud, never share your bank details on social media, text messages, emails or over the phone. If you suspect your bank details might have ended up in the wrong hands, call your bank immediately so they can act quickly and do something about it.

  Here are the most common frauds and how to avoid them.

  • • Skimming

  This is when fraudsters make a copy of someone’s card. To prevent skimming, make sure all card machines are legitimate. If anything on the screen doesn’t look right or where you insert your card looks loose or tampered with, don’t put your card in. Whilst using your card, cover the numbers when entering your pin code to stop lurkers from seeing.

  • • Stolen cards

  Unfortunately, it can be hard to prevent having your card stolen as pickpockets can be both fast and almost invisible. If someone does steal your card, cancel it immediately by calling your bank. It might be a good idea to add the bank’s number to your mobile phone, just in case. Alternatively, some banks allow you to cancel your card on their online platform or through their app.

  • • Phishing

  This is when you get an email, text message or a call from fraudsters pretending to be well-known companies requesting your bank details. Often they will give a reason, such as needing to update your information or checking the information they “already have” is correct. For example, an email may say they need you to update your payment details. The information you give them will then be used for unauthorized purchases.

  If you have received a dodgy phone call, compare the number to the company’s phone number online. You can also call them to ask if they actually tried to contact you. If you have been contacted by email, compare the content and email address to emails you have received from the company.

  Even if the email seems legit, whenever you are submitting your bank details, check that the connection is secure. To check this, look at the top left corner of the website’s URL. If there’s a padlock symbol, you can click on the padlock to see more information. To be absolutely sure you’re not being phished, contact the company yourself.

  

  Sources

  UK Finance

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
Head of UK Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806

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Written by

Matthew Boyle

Publisher

Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio

Matthew's expertise

Matthew has written 244 Finder guides across topics including:

• Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
• Comparing bank accounts and highlighting useful features
• Publishing easy-to-understand guides