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24/01/2012 -
Cash, debit and credit card processing continued to grow in December, both in terms of transactions and dollar volume, according to the most recent SpendTrend report from First Data Corporation. However, overall year-over-year average tickets fell by 0.1 percent last month, the first negative reading since January of last year.Much of last month's retail activity can be attributed to the holiday shopping season, and consumers appeared more willing to incur debt as a result. Credit card transactions climbed by 6.1 percent as dollar volumes on such purchases rose by 6.8 percent. Use of checks continued to dwindle, the only payment channels to do so.
"Consumer willingness to spend in December was based largely on the ability to find bargains, and merchants utilized steep discounting to drive traffic," said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions.
Despite the uptick in credit card processing, analysts still fear a "retail hangover" in the first few weeks of the new year, as reports suggest consumers spent more than they planned during the holidays and are now beginning to receive the bills.
