A further £17.8bn cash is also expected to be withdrawn from ATMs during the month. expected to be the busiest day for cash withdrawals.

Brian Cunnington, head of Debit Cards for Barclays, said: “We all know Christmas is the season of goodwill, but that usually means it’s the season for spending as well. With so much shopping and entertaining to be done, debit cards are set to be well used throughout the month. Nearly all shops, restaurants, bars and online companies accept debit cards, so it is the easiest way to get your Christmas spending done quickly and securely.”

Debit cards are becoming an increasingly common way to pay for goods, services and petrol – as cheques become a thing of the past.

The last quarterly report from the UK Payments Council, released in September, shows that debit card payments dominated non-cash spending for the first time. Credit card spending fell by 0.7 per cent as Britons found it harder to obtain credit or decided to pay off their credit card debts.

One of the main reasons for the increase in debit card payments is the decrease in the use of cheques, which is currently declining at the rate of 13 per cent a year.

Gross credit card lending was 7.5 per cent lower than in the last quarter of 2008.

Richard Dodd, of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said high street retailers were ‘cautiously optimistic’ about Christmas but were not expecting a bumper year for consumer spending.

“Christmas will definitely be better than last year – but that is mainly because last year was the worst we have had for 14 years.”

He said a recent survey of high street retailers found that 40 per cent said they expected to take more money over the holiday period this year than they did last year.

“There is a bit of confidence – in that more people are willing to spend than they were before. But there are some very big worries about interest rates and the whole question of taxation and public sector spending cuts to come.”

He said one effect of the economic downturn had been a return to the use of cash as a method of payment. “We have seen more use of cash rather than cards, and that is because people find it easier to manage their spending when they use cash.”