APACS releases card payment guide
APACS, the UK’s payments service, has released a guide to the card payment process. The consumer advice guide, titled The Card Transaction Process, provides a step by step explanation of the flow of funds from the time the consumer makes a plastic card payment to the moment when it reaches the retailers account. The launch of the guide coincides with the installation of Britain’s one millionth point of sale card terminal, at the Duke of Uke in London.
APACS director of communications Sandra Quinn said: ‘Paying by plastic is now part of everyday life. When the first plastic cards appeared in Britain in June 1966, only a handful of retailers accepted them, typically a paper-based system using so-called zip-zap machines. In less than 40 years, plastic has become our most popular way to pay in ever-more varied locations.’
There are now more than 140 million plastic cards in use in the UK. Most of the spending (68 per cent) is on debit cards. The value of spending on plastic this year is expected to exceed £320 billion, compared to an anticipated £277 billion of cash payments.