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First Data publishes June spending analysis

July 12, 2013

E-commerce and payment processing specialist First Data Corp. has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis of consumer spending at U.S. merchant locations in June. Compared with the same period in 2012, dollar volume growth was up 1.1 percent, at 7.1 percent.

Prepaids saw the biggest YOY gain, at 12.7 percent, while checks continued a downward spiral, at -6.6 percent.

Average ticket growth was 1 percent in June — compared with just 0.2 percent in May — as shoppers showed increased interest in purchasing big-ticket items.

Overall retail average ticket growth was 2.7 percent in June versus last month's growth of 2.4 percent.

Gas station dollar volume growth returned to positive territory at 3.5 percent compared with last month's -2.0 percent.

Retail dollar volume growth remained healthy with growth of 5.5 percent as warm weather supported shopper traffic for Father's Day gifts and early Fourth of July items.

Building material and garden equipment dealers, with dollar volume growth of 13.4 percent, continued to experience stronger year-over-year and sequential dollar volume growth as the housing market gained momentum.

Continuing the trend from the beginning of 2013, credit card dollar volume and transaction growth surpassed both PIN and signature debit growth in June. Dollar volume growth on credit cards was 8.8 percent compared with PIN and signature debit growth of 4.4 percent and 6.9 percent.

"The combination of increased hiring, a snapback in housing markets and rising equity prices are underpinning Americans' confidence and encouraging them to spend," said Krish Mantripragada, SVP of information and analytics solutions at First Data. "Continued growth in credit card dollar volume suggests increased demand for credit leading to purchases of higher ticket and costlier items."

Read more about trends and statistics.