Final Tally
Wed, Dec 29, 2004
The 2004 holiday season exceeded expectations as retail sales charged to major credit cards, signature debit cards, and store credit cards ran more than 5% over projected levels. Debit card use soared, rising about 14% above projections. VISA reported that on Christmas Eve credit card retail sales declined 5%, while debit card retail volume surged by 24%. For the five weeks ending December 26th, overall retail payment card volume was $113.8 billion, compared to an estimated $107.7 billion for the 2004 season. Store credit cards are up less than 1% to $15.9 billion in retail volume for the holiday period, while credit cards rose a modest 4.4% to $73.6 billion.
| Holiday Card Volume | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| (five weeks ending 12/26) | |||
| Actual | Projected | Difference | |
| Credit: | $73.6 billion | $70.5 billion | + 4.4% |
| Debit: | $24.2 billion | $21.3 billion | +13.6% |
| Store: | $16.0 billion | $15.9 billion | + 0.6% |
| TOTAL | $113.8 billion | $107.7 billion | + 5.7% |
| Source: CardData (www.carddata.com) | |||