PSCU Payments Index April 2021: Deep Dive on Travel
Summary: The PSCU Payments Index is a new monthly publication providing financial institutions with timely analysis and insights into consumer payment trends, building upon PSCU’s previous weekly Transaction Insights. Recognizing the ongoing economic shifts due to COVID-19, the Index uniquely benchmarks current consumer spending against both pre-pandemic 2019 data and 2020 figures, highlighting evolving consumer behaviors. Recent findings indicate accelerated growth in debit transactions, driven by stimulus spending, increased adoption of mobile wallets and Card Not Present transactions, and early signs of recovery in travel spending. Interested readers can subscribe to receive monthly updates directly.
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We are excited to present the first edition of the PSCU Payments Index, the next evolution of our successful consumer payments trend analysis. In this new monthly publication, PSCU will provide our financial institutions, as well as the market, with timely data, analysis and thought leadership to help make informed, strategic decisions.
As we have surpassed the one-year mark of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, year-over-year performance trends are now influenced by the significant shifts in consumer behavior experienced over the past year. Accordingly, as the successor to PSCU’s successful weekly Transaction Insights, the monthly PSCU Payments Index uses 2019 purchasing history as a baseline comparison for 2021 results, as well as a comparison to 2020. This three-year view provides both a pre-pandemic comparison and insight into how consumer behavior continues to evolve since the impacts of 2020.
Key takeaways include:
- Debit growth continues to accelerate, with March benefiting from the third stimulus and setting record growth in purchase volume
- Card Not Present and Mobile Wallets continue to see strong adoption
- Travel, the most negatively impacted sector, is showing signs of improvement
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