CARPINTERIA, Calif.—Credit cards are making a comeback, according to a new data that indicates credit card purchase volume increased last year while debit held steady.
According to The Nilson Report, credit cards increased their market share in purchase volume over debit and prepaid cards to 53.59% in 2014, up from 52.95% in 2013. Debit cards and prepaid cards held 42% and 4% market share last year, respectively.
Bankrate.com noted that Americans, overall, have taken a big step back from credit card use, thanks largely to the recession, pointing to credit cards holding a 67.01% market share in 2004.
"Even those people who did not lose their jobs, even those people whose life remained stable, started to move from credit card spending to debit card spending," David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report, told Bankrate.com.
Robertson told Bankrate.com that the slow growth in credit card market share in the last three years suggests people may be feeling better about their finances. Nilson found spending was up in general: purchase volume at merchants for cards issued in the U.S. totaled $4.9 trillion in 2014, up 8.4% over 2013
The return to credit is not a bad thing for consumers and the economy, with Robertson noting that there is no statistical indication that people are getting in trouble again.