Lunchtime on the last Saturday before Christmas saw a peak of 370 credit card transactions in one second, Barclaycard has stated.
Figures from the provider showed that this number was reached at 12:48 GMT on December 19th, while the whole day saw 7.3 million transactions.
However, this was seven per cent fewer than the last pre-Christmas Saturday in 2008 and the total value of these was 2.6 per cent less.
Despite this, spending was up in service stations, supermarkets and department stores.
Head of UK payment acceptance at Barclaycard Stuart Neal observed: "Continued increases in areas where you would expect at Christmas, such as supermarkets and department stores, as customers continue to treat their loved ones."
Those looking for the best credit card deal may note that the devices do offer advantages over certain forms of payment.
In a question-and-answer article by the BBC published in the wake of the collapse of Scottish travel firm FlyGlobespan earlier this month, it was noted that under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act, all money spent on cards for goods not received will be refunded.
This guarantee does not extend to purchases made using other types of card or cash.
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