Census Bureau, ETA Member Data Show Increases in Retail, Card Spending
6-18-2020
New reports from the United States Census Bureau and ETA member CardFlight reflect upward trends in retail and card spending as the economy shows signs of growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Census Bureau report released early this week estimating that retail and food spending hit $485 billion in May 2020, a 17.7 percent increase from the previous month. The report noted that the estimates still trailed last year’s sales by 6.1 percent.
Similarly, ETA member CardFlight, which has been tracking card sales volume for small merchants since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early March, recorded a nearly 20 percent increase in sales volume versus levels the week of March 2nd.
CardFlight also reported an increase in active small businesses, but the total still trails early March’s number by 3.8 percent. Further, while in-person EMV transactions have met baseline levels, CardFlight reports that in-person contactless transactions have increased 60 percent.
Click here to read more from CardFlight. Click here to read more from the Census Bureau.
About ETA
The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 500 payments and technology companies. ETA members make commerce possible by processing more than $6 trillion in purchases in the US and deploying payments innovations to merchants and consumers. Learn more: www.electran.org.
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