Consumers Shifted More Purchases to PIN Debit During the Holidays. PIN debit transaction growth continued to outperform, with growth of 12.5% in December. PIN debit and EBT growth remained healthy
- PIN Debit transactions increased to 12.5% in December.
- Credit & Signature Debit transaction growth increased to 4.6%.
- However, this was a decline from November’s rate of 5.8% as consumers used more PIN Debit.
- EBT transaction growth remained high at 37.0%. High unemployment continued to fuel government disbursements.
- Note: In June 2009, the government mandated the use of EBT cards for all U.S. SNAP/Food Stamp Program benefits.
Value Merchants Continued to Excel. Value Merchants experienced 14.1% transaction growth in December while most industries also posted gains.
Average Tickets Down Slightly Year-over-Year But Up Compared to November. Most industries experienced slight declines in average tickets compared to December 2008. However average tickets increased compared to November 2009 due in part to Value Merchants and Grocery Merchants.