Industry News

21/10/2009 - In a trend that is likely not limited to Americans alone - and that has encouraging implications for future sales - a recent study from Country Financial found that Americans are feeling confident about their financial security for the first time in a year.

The Country Financial Security Index, released Tuesday, rose by 3.6 points in October, marking the largest single increase since the index's inception in February 2007.

In addition, the short-term outlook index improved by 22 points since August, as 41 percent of consumers rated their overall financial situation as excellent or good. That reading represents an increase of 6 percentage points since August and marks the highest level since December 2008.

"It is very encouraging to see people feeling better about their finances," said Keith Brannan, vice president of financial security planning at Country Financial. "This is especially true when you consider that the economy has not yet experienced a full recovery."

As consumers continue to feel more comfortable with their finances, they may be more inclined to reverse their spending cuts and saving behaviors. Consequently, businesses should expect to see increased credit card processing activity and higher sales, making the need for up-to-date and PCI compliant POS terminals more important than ever.