December 14, 2011 09:00 AM Eastern Time
Largest Increase in Activation Dollar Volume and Transaction Growth in Four Months
ATLANTA--()--First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend® Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards analysis for the month of November. The analysis tracks U.S. same-merchant activations and redemptions of merchant-branded prepaid cards including spending, gift, incentive and promotional cards.
“Indications are pointing to consumers using gift cards more this holiday season and it will be interesting to see if activation dollar volume continues to increase through the year’s end”
Activation transaction growth led the way in November with year-over-year activation transaction growth at 12.3%. Specialty Retailers saw activation transaction growth of 19.4% growth in November. Casual Dining and Quick Service Restaurants also posted double-digit growth increases in November.
Consumers seem poised to increase their gift card utilization this holiday season. Activation dollar volume rebounded in November with an overall growth of 16.7%, reversing a three-month slowdown of growth. Many industries posted sequential activation dollar volume growth improvement. Specialty Retail posted a healthy increase over last year of 17.9%, following a three-month trend of negative growth.
Redemption dollar volume and transaction growth both reached yearly highs in November, a favorable indication for gift card sales this holiday season. Overall redemption dollar volume growth was 24.8% in November. This marked the fifth consecutive month that overall redemption dollar volume growth exceeded 20%. Overall redemption transaction growth was up 23.5%, the largest increase over the past year.
“Indications are pointing to consumers using gift cards more this holiday season and it will be interesting to see if activation dollar volume continues to increase through the year’s end,” said Silvio Tavares, SVP and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions, which publishes SpendTrend. “The strong growth of redemption dollar volume and transactions signals to us that more consumers are recognizing the value of gift cards in their wallets and remembering to use them at the point of sale.”
The SpendTrend Closed-Loop Prepaid Card analysis is part of First Data’s suite of SpendTrend analytics services. For more information on First Data SpendTrend, visit www.firstdata.com/infoanalytics or call SpendTrend Customer Care at 800-430-0169.
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Around the world, every second of every day, First Data makes payment transactions secure, fast and easy for merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its vast product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability. Whether the choice of payment is by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter, First Data takes every opportunity to go beyond the transaction.
First Data SpendTrend, a macro-economic indicator, is based on aggregate same-store sales activity in the First Data Point of Sale Network. First Data SpendTrend does not represent First Data’s financial performance.
