LINK cash withdrawal statistics show consumers in bullish Christmas mood
- 7.3 per cent increase in value of December LINK cash withdrawals
- More than 152 million LINK cash withdrawals in December
- Over £9.7bn withdrawn
- Average withdrawal reaches £64
A record number of 152,929,048 withdrawals from cash machines on the LINK network were made in December 2006. Over £9,767,000,000 was withdrawn from LINK cash machines across the UK, up 7.3 per cent compared with 2005, with consumers withdrawing an average of almost £64 each visit, compared with £63 the year before.
It is no surprise that the week leading up to Christmas was particularly active with over £2,774,000,000 withdrawn from LINK cash machines, up 10.9 per cent compared with 2005.
There was also a final dash for cash on the Friday before Christmas - 22 December –the busiest day ever for the LINK network when the average withdrawal rose to £82 and over £616,900,000 was withdrawn, an increase of 10.4 per cent on the Friday before Christmas in 2005. In the hour between 12 noon and one pm, £56.9 million was withdrawn, nearly £1 million per minute.
Whilst some retailers reported a quiet start to the festive season, this was not reflected in cash withdrawal levels. LINK saw a busy late November and early December, then a slow down between the 4 and 10 December before acceleration as Christmas approached.
Graham Mott, head of planning and development at LINK, said: “This was a record year for seasonal cash machine transactions with figures reaching new heights this Christmas. Despite pessimistic predictions about consumer spending, it appears that UK consumers began their Christmas shopping and socialising towards the end November this year.
“As is tradition, the last Friday before Christmas was the busiest day recorded this year despite the fact that there were still two remaining shopping days before Christmas. It appears that people were keen to get all their shopping out of the way and enjoy the festivities.”
