Tom Bennett, a principal with PSCU's Advisors Plus, said spending strengthened for both credit and debit cards, and also in back-to-school categories, where purchases rose 12% by credit and 3% by debit.

"Credit is performing extremely well, with nearly every merchant category experiencing double-digit growth," Bennett said. "Debit growth was more subdued."

Tom Bennett

The average credit card balance per active account among members served by PSCU was $2,780 in August, up 4.9% (or $130) from a year earlier. August was the strongest month of growth so far this year, and the sixth month in a row with year-over-year growth exceeding 2%.

The Fed's G-19 Consumer Credit Report released Sept. 8 showed credit cards grew 13% to $68.8 billion from a year earlier and rose 1.8% from the previous month. That compared with a June-to-July average of 0.9%. Credit unions' share of credit card debt was 6.3% in July, compared with 6.2% in June and 6.4% in July 2021.

And PSCU reported that credit quality remains good. The credit card delinquency rate for August was 1.62%, 14 basis points lower than pre-pandemic August 2019 levels.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that retail spending, excluding automobiles and parts, rose 10.6% in August from a year earlier, falling between PSCU's 16% gain by credit and 7% by debit. Comparisons for other categories included:

• Grocery store spending rose 8.2% in August from a year earlier, Census reported. At PSCU, spending rose 16% by credit and rose 5% by debit.
• Gasoline spending rose 29.9% in August from a year earlier, Census reported. At PSCU, spending rose 30% by credit and rose 16% by debit.
• Clothing store spending rose 3.7% in August from a year earlier, Census reported. At PSCU, spending rose 16% by credit and fell 8% by debit.
• Department store spending rose 1.2% in August from a year earlier, Census reported. At PSCU, spending rose 3% by credit and fell 15% by debit.
• Spending at restaurants and bars rose 10.8% in August from a year earlier, Census reported. At PSCU, spending rose 22% by credit and rose 6% by debit.

The PSCU Payments Index was based on data from credit unions that have been processing payments with PSCU since January 2020. It encompassed 2.8 billion transactions valued at $143 billion of credit and debit card activity in the 12 months ending Aug. 31.