First Data report: Prepaid gift card market healthy at mid-year

Atlanta -- According to a report released Thursday by First Data Corp., the prepaid gift-card market has remained healthy during the first half of 2011, despite a sluggish economy.



The 2011 Midyear Gift Card update showed that the gift card market experienced a higher rate of growth than U.S. consumer spending.

Using actual POS data from First Data’s SpendTrend database, the 2011 Prepaid Midyear Gift Card Performance Update found that gift card activation volume increased 8.8% --- nearly a percentage point more than overall consumer spending volume on credit, debit and Electronic Benefit cards for the same period.



The average per-card amount activated on gift cards expanded 6.1% in the first half of 2011, reversing the prior six-month trend where gift card activations declined on a year-over-year basis.