The world of personal finance has come a long way since the first credit card was introduced by Barclays in June 1966 and the first cash machine became available in 1967. The latest figures from APACS, the UK payment association, suggest that there are approximately 32 million credit card holders in the UK alone, possessing nearly 70 million credit cards between them and owing an average of 1772 on cards alone. The ease with which credit cards enable retail transactions to be made combined with the addition of useful extras such as purchase and travel insurance, customer loyalty schemes, introductory rates, increased security, and lower rate credit cards, mean it is not surprising that UK card expenditure exceeded cash transactions for the first time in 2004 and is still continuing to rapidly rise. The explosion of online shopping has also been a major contributory factor in the increase in UK electronic payments. Last year 310 million purchases were made online, accounting for around 22 billion in spending, and constituting 5% of all personal card payments. Moneynet credit card news quotes Sandra Quinn of APAS on the rise of the role of the internet in UK personal finance as saying, "The internet is now very much part of mainstream culture in the UK, and for many people it is the first port of call when looking for certain items to buy. In 2005, for the first time, more than half of all adults made an online purchase, which demonstrates this increasingly important role the internet is playing in the lives of UK consumers." This level of internet purchasing looks set to rise still further as net access increases and more businesses gain a web presence and start to introduce online shopping carts, alongside increased security and fraud protection measures and the ability to make real-time payments which will help to generate a general improvement in the confidence in internet shopping. The capability for micropayments to be successfully dealt with, which is expected in the near future, will advance the ability of companies to process transactions still further by allowing small payments to be made for many online services. Whilst it is rapidly becoming safer to perform transactions online and carry out all aspects of personal finance using the web, it is important to note that until the internet is made entirely secure, care must always be taken by ensuring anti-virus software is kept up to date, shopping is performed on secure and trusted websites, and customers must always be vigilant about using their personal and financial details online. For more information visit Barclays Personal Banking Submitted by:
Michael Hanna About Michael
Michael is a keen writer, and internet marketer living in Scotland: Contact details:
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