Global credit giant Visa has claimed that tomorrow, Saturday December 20th, will be the busiest day on the UK High Street this Christmas.

The firm expects to process over 15 million transactions throughout the day, totalling around £750 million. To be even more specific, Visa says the busiest five minutes of the day is likely to be between 12:15pm and 12:20pm, in which time it will process 42,000 transactions each minute.

And despite the current economic woes, Visa saw a seven per cent increase in spending in November compared to the same month last year. However, after a strong first week sales have since slumped in December.

“The significant drop off in spending in the second week of December is unusual,” Visa Europe’s commercial director Dr Steve Perry stated. “Either consumers are delaying many of their purchases in the hope of finding last minute bargains, or they have decided to reign in their spending completely. This means Britain's retailers are either in for a bumper last weekend or a very poor Christmas indeed.

“Whilst consumers may be delaying the purchases they make in shops, they have already been shopping in record numbers online. Online shopping has made a tremendous difference to Christmas spending patterns as consumers place their orders early on in December to ensure they are delivered on time.”

Source: RetailBulletin