Spending to boost commercial firms - commercial mortgages

15 November 2007

Britons will again spend more on Christmas than they did in the previous year despite the effects of the credit crunch still being felt by many firms and consumers.

The continued increase in consumption will likely be good news for firms with commercial mortgages, with Apacs predicting that some £53 billion will be spent in December via cards, cash and cheques.

This is a rise of 4.2 per cent on the figure seen 12 months ago, the payments association has noted, with debit cards the option of choice for most consumers.

"Whether buying the turkey or stocking fillers, we''re most likely to be using our debit card to pay for them this Christmas, continuing the ongoing trend of pulling out the debit card in preference to our credit cards, cash or cheques," said Apacs director of communications Sandra Quinn.

The prediction was echoed by Deloitte, which has predicted that the average Christmas expenditure per person will be up on last year''s figure.