Published annually, UK Plastic Cards provides an overview of the key trends and issues facing the UK card market. Intense competition, rising write-offs, and a deteriorating economic situation have challenged issuers in 2008 and 2009. This report provides in depth coverage of these and other issues, along with full data for the credit, charge, debit, private label, and prepaid card markets

Scope

*Includes comprehensive data coverage of the UK cards market from 2004 to 2013, including credit, debit, charge, private label and prepaid cards

*Forecast overview including key market drivers and level of influence of these, under a neutral, optimistic, and pessimistic economic scenario

*Analysis of the impact of the recession and its implications for the cards sector, including coverage of consumer card behaviour and attitudes

*Case studies of new product development and strategies being employed globally by key card issuers as a reaction to the downturn

Highlights

The UK plastic card market has undergone a turbulent 18 months as a result of both long term difficulties and new challenges posed by the recession. Despite this, the growth in the overall value of transactions across all card types remains positive, reaching £579.5 billion in 2008. This growth was driven primarily by debit card spending.

The economic environment for cards has taken a beating as a result of the downturn with issuers faced with a drop in both transaction values and balances outstanding. These pressures are likely to continue for some time as consumer spending continues to be subdued by an uncertain economy and rising levels of unemployment.

The recession is exacerbating long term trends of a shift from credit toward debit. Under a neutral economic scenario debit cards transaction values will reach £470 billion by 2013, with a CAGR of 2.9%. Credit will grow to reach £119.5 billion over this same period with a CAGR of 1.5%. Debit volumes at the POS alone will grow by a CAGR of 8.3%

Reasons to Purchase

*Understand the size and composition of the UK cards market and understand what the future holds under a comprehensive range of economic scenarios

*Comprehend the recession's impact and how the market is reacting with up to the minute data and the latest analysis of emerging trends

*Plan your strategy effectively with case studies and analysis of how key players are adapting to a rapidly changing dynamic environment