Americans will likely use general purpose credit/debit cards and store credit cards to charge nearly $135 billion in retail sales this holiday season. While overall spending via all payment means will rise between 5.0% and 7.5%, the figure for payments cards will increase about 12.3% above last year. Signature debit card use is expected to soar by more than 25% while store credit cards will generate fewer sales this year, about 5% less. Credit card volume is running about 11% above last year. Consumers will likely rack up more than $85 billion in holiday sales on VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards. The National Retail Federation says total holiday retail sales are expected to increase 5.0% this year to $457.4 billion. VISA USA estimates overall retail sales (excluding auto sales) for the 2006 holiday season will grow 7.5%.
Holiday Card Volume
(five weeks ending 12/25)
2004 2005 2006 Gain
Credit: $ 73.6 b $ 77.1 b $ 85.6 b +11.0%
Debit: $ 24.2 b $ 28.2 b $ 35.3 b +25.2%
Store: $ 16.0 b $ 14.7 b $ 13.9 b -5.4%
TOTAL $113.8 b $120.0 b $134.8 b +12.3%
Source: CardData (www.carddata.com)
Americans will likely use general purpose credit/debit cards and store credit cards to charge nearly $135 billion in retail sales this holiday season. While overall spending via all payment means will rise between 5.0% and 7.5%, the figure for payments cards will increase about 12.3% above last year. Signature debit card use is expected to soar by more than 25% while store credit cards will generate fewer sales this year, about 5% less. Credit card volume is running about 11% above last year. Consumers will likely rack up more than $85 billion in holiday sales on VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards. The National Retail Federation says total holiday retail sales are expected to increase 5.0% this year to $457.4 billion. VISA USA estimates overall retail sales (excluding auto sales) for the 2006 holiday season will grow 7.5%.