Consumers spent more on their credit and debit cards in September 2011 than they did in the same month last year, according to card processor First Data. But the firm credited inflated prices for the increase rather than an increase in purchases.
“Rising inflation, particularly on nondiscretionary purchases such as food and gas, continued to boost dollar volume growth and average ticket growth,” said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions, which publishes “SpendTrend.”
Measured year over year, the number of transactions in each payment category measured, except checks, increased, but when measured against August, the number of transactions remained flat, First Data said.
Year over year, the numbers transactions on credit cards rose by 11%, debit cards authorized by signature by 6.0%, debit cards authorized by personal identification numbers by 5.8%, while the number of check transactions declined by 9.6%, the processor's analysis found.
