Card payments company Visa on UK consumer spending

Inflation-adjusted consumer spending in the three month to the end of March -1.4% y/y

  • the previous quarter -1.3%
  • Q1 of 2018 is biggest fall since the fourth quarter of 2012

Spending in March alone

  • -2.1% y/y (vs. Feb. -1% y/y)
  • the biggest drop in a month since October 2017

Reuters with more

  • Online sales fell for the first time in 10 months.
  • Visa said the weakness in consumer spending reflected a dip in confidence among many households as well as unusually snowy weather
  • "That said, it is too early to read a great deal into this year-on-year decline, which should be viewed in the context of high growth rates in early 2017," Mark Antipof, chief commercial officer at Visa
  • Visa said only spending on food and in hotels, restaurants and bars rose in March, probably due in part to the early Easter holiday weekend

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Visa's data is based on spending on its debit, credit and prepaid cards, which account for about a third of consumer spending.

  • The growth rates are adjusted for inflation, seasonal effects and differences between typical card and cash spending.

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GBP is doing little: