New research commissioned by MasterCard has shown how the extra costs associated with Christmas shopping trips including unplanned purchases, coffee, meals and transport and parking fees are forcing consumers to use the internet as an alternative.

Consumers are spending on average an extra £84 per shopping trip, which equates to £3.2billion nationwide.

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MasterCard Prepaid’s Christmas Spending survey also revealed that over half of adults (55%) who go Christmas present-buying splurge on unintended impulse purchases for others, while 45% of Christmas shoppers fall prey to temptation and buy additional items for themselves.

The findings come after TNS Finance’s research carried out earlier this year showed that consumers across Europe are turning to prepaid for buying online.

92% of respondents who said they would buy a prepaid card for use on the internet cited the fact that it was not linked to a bank account as a key benefit with 67% saying they considered it safer than other payment means. 

Matt Lanford, head of prepaid for MasterCard Europe said: “Prepaid cards work like a pay-as-you go mobile phone and therefore can help people budget better too. It prevents you from accidentally spending more than you have loaded onto it and the act of having to actively re-load the card can provide valuable thinking time before any expensive impulse buys are made.

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“But we know that consumers remaining sceptical about online payment security understand and like the benefits of using prepaid for its ability to provide a secure and convenient way of buying goods and services over the internet”.