Spending report: Card spending growth up in August

Atlanta A report released Friday by payment system provider First Data Corp. said that card spending growth was solid during the month of August. The First Data SpendTrend report, which tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations, found that dollar volume growth, excluding automobile sales but including fuel, was 7.9% and transaction growth was 8.3% in August, a decrease from July’s growth of 8.5% and 9.2%, respectively.

However, average tickets declined 0.4% across many major merchant categories, as merchants continued to discount prices to attract consumers and boost sales.

For the third consecutive month, credit transaction growth accelerated. Year-over-year credit transaction growth was 3.7%, an increase from July’s growth of 1.9%. Credit average tickets grew 1.3%, compared with August 2009. Conversely, PIN debit and signature debit growth slowed in August compared with July.