Card Expenditure covers trends on quarterly volume and value of debit and credit card payments accepted in the UK including a breakdown by retail/services sector.

Key data highlights

Updated 29 May 2026

  • While consumer confidence was steady, if subdued, at the beginning of the quarter, sentiment dropped sharply with the onset of the conflict in Iran with inflation expectations picking up sharply and concerns about the economic outlook resurfacing. Growth in spending was again stronger on credit cards compared with debit cards.
  • Against this backdrop, spending on credit and debit cards remained weak, notably so for expenditure in service sectors, which was 4.2 per cent lower in Q1 compared with a year ago. Spending on travel, which has been extremely buoyant since the pandemic, saw the first year-on-year fall in seven years (excluding the Covid period). 
  • Across retail the picture was broadly flat. However, spending on auto fuels by value rose sharply in the year to March as the surge in oil prices feed through to the petrol pump.
Area of expertise:
Data & analysis