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11/11/2009 -
Credit card processing may be returning to growth levels, as one of the world's largest credit card issuers reported this week that worldwide credit card spending has reached the highest rate this year.American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault said at a conference in New York Tuesday that worldwide annualized billings grew by 3 percent in October, the highest level so far this year. When adjusted for foreign exchange factors, American Express card spending declined 1 percent since last year.
In contrast, September saw a decline of more than 5 percent while August posted an approximately 10 percent decline.
This is good news for merchants with credit card processing capabilities as well as for the worldwide economy in general - Chenault noted that "there are signs that the recession may be approaching an end."
Although American Express posted a 21 percent decline in third quarter net income, Chenault said in the company's earnings statement that merchants may soon be able to anticipate higher credit card processing levels. "Today, while there is still reason to be cautious about high unemployment levels, we are seeing broad-based improvements in credit quality [and] the trends in cardmember spending are encouraging," he said.
