Low interest rates and competitive deals mean Britons are using their credit cards more.

The amount of money owed on credit cards increased by 20 per cent to £5.9 billion last year as people made the most of introductory low-interest rate offers, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

In its annual review of banking statistics, the BBA found people had an average of £905 owing on their credit card and were using them as a form of cheap borrowing.

By the end of last year, there were around 50 million credit cards in circulation, with the annual number of transactions increasing by ten per cent compared to 1999.

The average value of each transaction increased by 16 per cent to £62.

The amount of money lost to credit card and debit card fraud also increased, rising by 55 per cent during the year to £293 million.

According to the BBA, banks installed 1,143 cash dispensers in 2000, with the bulk of the new machines at shopping centres, supermarkets and railway stations.

A quarter of all cash machines were away from bank branches.

During the year, about £10 billion was withdrawn from cash machines, an average of more than five million transactions each day.

mortgage lending continued to grow last year, with loans increasing by £40 billion.

Banks still dominated the mortgage market and accounted for 72 per cent of all mortgage lending.

Savings balances increased, with individuals paying a total of £30 billion into banks and building societies during the year.