Barclaycard’s data shows 60% growth in UK retail transactions with lockdown easing

By Megha Bhattacharya

Data from Barclaycard has revealed a 60% growth in the number of customers returning to trading and taking payments as compared to the first week of April, with lockdown restrictions easing. With businesses opening up, the company saw an 8% increase in the total volume of transactions along with a rise in contactless transactions, with Barclaycard Payments processing ten per cent more contactless transactions than the week before.

Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments, said, “It’s extremely heartening to witness the spike in activity that took place last week, and with some retailers still to open some or all of their stores, we expect sales volumes to continue to rise over the coming weeks. The ability of UK businesses to adapt and grow as they emerge from lockdown is a testament to how dedicated and resilient they are. It will be interesting to watch whether the measures they took to boost income during lockdown, such as turning to social media to increase sales, will become a permanent part of their business models from now on.”

The company’s data also showed that SMEs have benefited from the lockdown, with a 12% increase in the total volume of transactions and a 9% increase in the total value processed. Barclaycard stated that since the introduction of the new £45 contactless limit in the UK, it has processed almost 40,700,000 contactless transactions above the previous limit of £30 in a bid to help to prevent the spread of coronavirus by allowing more people to pay without using cash or handling a card machine.