Consumer card spending grew by 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of year although there are signs of a slowdown, with growth rates falling for two consecutive months, according to new data out today from Barclaycard.

In fact, three in every four pounds of retail spending was made through a debit or credit card last year, up from around two in four pounds in 2004.

It's clear that cards play a central role in our economy ? when you include the service sector, card spending was equivalent to a third of the UK's GDP last year - and this trend is here to stay.

Although the growth in the value of card spending is slowing, the number of transactions continues to rise at a faster rate. Over the past 10 years the number of purchases using debit and credit cards has more than doubled. Last year the average value of a card transaction fell to £43.47, its lowest level in 15 years.

Behind this switch from cash to cards, particularly for lower value sums, are contactless payments and online retail. By the end of 2016, four in 10 card transactions were either online or made using a contactless card, compared to a quarter the previous year.

At the same time we?re seeing the advent of new technology such as in-app purchasing and the fusing of social media and messaging formats with payment capabilities, which work along the rails of the card payments system.

Over the next decade our forecasts show the number of card payments will grow substantially. By 2026, we expect the volume of debit card purchases to grow by 57 per cent to 18.2 billion.

While monthly spending fluctuates, the changes we have seen in the way we pay and the continued technological developments mean card payments will continue to be a lynchpin of the economy in the years to come.