Online credit card spending soars in UK

Online credit card spending in Britain has soared five-fold during the past four years, figures showed.

The Association of Payment Clearing Services said one in 10 credit card transactions took place online during the second half of 2003, up from just one in 50 in 1999.

At the same time it said the average number of purchases each internet shopper made had almost doubled since 2000, when around 6.7 million people made an average of 6.5 purchases a year.