PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), today reported year-over-year debit and credit sales volume growth of 7.86% among its Owner credit unions during the 2019 holiday season, significantly outpacing a recently reported market rate of 4.1% by the National Retail Federation (NRF). PSCU Owner credit unions also benefitted from substantial year-over-year transaction growth of 7.14% during the period.
In line with PSCU’s findings from its 2019 Eye on Payments study, which showed an increased preference for debit among consumers, debit growth outpaced credit growth for PSCU Owner credit unions during the 2019 holiday season. Debit sales volume grew 8.76% year over year and debit transactions grew 7.4%, while credit sales volume and transactions both grew at 6.4% for PSCU credit unions.
“Despite six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2019 than in 2018, PSCU Owner credit unions saw nearly double the year-over-year market growth rate in sales,” said Scott Wagner, executive vice president, chief revenue officer at PSCU. “We are pleased that our efforts to help drive sustained growth and an unparalleled experience for our credit unions are helping them continue to outpace the market. PSCU’s Advisors Plus continues to help our credit unions optimize their portfolios, fuel sustained growth, accomplish their goals and maintain top-of-wallet status with their members.”
To calculate 2019 holiday data, PSCU’s Data & Analytics and Advisors Plus teams compiled and analyzed information from credit unions that leveraged the CUSO for debit and/or credit processing during both the 2019 and 2018 holiday shopping periods. PSCU compared year-over-year data from two full-month periods. Additional observations from the 2019 holiday season include:
- 18% of total cardholder spend on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Super Saturday was conducted within retail store categories. Of that volume, card-present transactions at retail stores experienced growth in both debit and credit, with 9.5% growth on debit and 10% growth on credit over these four days.
- For the overall holiday season, the average online transaction amount grew by 10% on debit and 11% on credit.
- Use of mobile wallets by members of Owner credit unions increased by 116% with PayPal, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay as the leading choices among consumers.
“Detailed, comprehensive and accurate data and analysis are critical to both PSCU and our Owner credit unions,” said Tom Gandre, executive vice president, chief operating officer at PSCU. “As we consult with our credit unions to help develop tailored growth solutions, having this data available is essential to guiding decisions as we work together to provide the most relevant, effective solutions for their members.”
PSCU’s extensive analytics services and products leverage data from billions of transactions annually. The company’s industry-leading suite of advanced analytics tools, Member Insight, helps credit unions uncover the information they need to understand the performance, profitability, growth opportunities and risk mitigation in their credit, debit, bill pay and ATM portfolios.