High street spending figures show signs of receovery but is more credit card spending a receipe for disaster?

Crosshills, West Yorkshire -- (SBWire) -- 09/25/2010 -- Consumer spending on debit and credit cards increased by 9.2 per cent during August this year compared to 2009. Total spend in August was down by 1.9 per cent compared to July but credit card company Barclaycard say that this is because of early summer sales hitting the high streets.

Barclaycard's Spending Index figures challenge concerns that high street spending is down as consumers review their finances and cut back on non-essential spending.

According to Barclaycard summer sales and back-to-school spending was the main reason for August's uplift. However increases in the cost of food and cotton filtering through to high street prices also equate to higher spending.

Head of Barclaycard UK Payment Acceptance, Stuart Neal said: "With leading retailers warning that the government austerity drive will keep the economy in the doldrums and hit consumer confidence hard, it is good to see a fourth month of increased spending."

"While there is some cause for viewing the near future with a certain amount of trepidation, recent indicators are good. Confidence remains relatively high, but it will be important to see how spending fares when public spending cutbacks begin to hit people's pockets, and not just the headlines."

Craig Gedey, Marketing Manager at award Winning debt management company http://www.debtadvisoryline.co.uk said: "Increasing consumer confidence on the high street is one peice of good news for the economy."

"Increased spending on credit cards is fine as long as consumers can afford to repay their bills. Credit card debts are amongst the most common when debtors contact us at Debt Advisory Line. Sometimes people use one credit card to pay off another credit card bill and these people should be seeking professional debt advice."

"We help people to get out of debt in the shortest possible time, because we know how stressful debt can be. We offer expert debt advice on all debt solutions to people living in the UK. Call us today on 0800 157 7254."