Visa USA has announced that spending on its branded payment cards during the 2004 holiday season increased by almost 16% from the same period last year. The credit card company reported total spending of $218.7 billion.
Visa said that its performance during the holidays provided further evidence of the migration in spending away from paper-based payments to more secure, rewarding and convenient electronic forms of payments including debit and credit cards.
From November 1, 2004 to January 2, 2005 consumer spending on Visa credit cards exceeded $110 billion, while debit spending grew to more than $90.6 billion, a 6.8% and 26.2% spike from this same time in 2003, respectively.
Visa tracked continued growth across a wide range of retail categories, from discount stores to more discretionary categories like travel and entertainment, which generally indicates that consumers are comfortable with their own financial situation. That’s a positive sign for the overall economy as we move into 2005, said Wayne Best, senior vice president of Strategic and Economic Analysis for Visa USA.