ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—In November, year-over-year consumer spending growth remained consistent and positive. While consumer sentiment surveys have shown mixed results, concerns about high prices remain, according to the December edition of the Velera Payments Index.
“This holiday season, with mixed signals in consumer confidence, we wanted to offer an incentive to activate low-usage cardholders and keep our card top of wallet,” explained said Natalie Baker, vice president, marketing, Dominion Energy Credit Union. “By working with Velera’s Advisors Plus, we were able to align our campaigns with market trends and develop strategies that made sense based on cost, expected returns and lift.
“Their insight helped us analyze past results, forecast future performance and apply best practices to maximize impact. Thanks to their guidance, our current holiday campaign has achieved a 33% response rate, with an increase of over 17% in transactional dollar volume, putting us on track to exceed last year’s results,” continued Baker. “This momentum reflects the benefit of yearly planning and consistent campaign execution."
Key takeaways for November include:
- While consumer sentiment showed mixed results, actual purchasing activity continued to grow consistently in November. Debit purchases increased by 4.2%, with the Goods and Money Services sectors accounting for 80% of that growth. Credit purchases were up 1.9%, with the Goods and Services sectors accounting for just under 80% of the increase. For November, year-over-year growth in debit transactions was up 2.3% and credit transactions increased by 2%.
- Consumers spent record amounts online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday (Nov. 27 through Dec. 1), building on the strong performance in 2024. Overall debit purchases increased by 1.1% and debit purchases in the Goods sector rose by 3.8% within the Payments Index dataset for this intensive five-day spending period. Overall credit purchases increased by 0.2%, while credit purchases in the Goods sector decreased by 0.1%.
- There was a drop in International Goods credit purchase growth coinciding with the initial tariff announcements in April, followed by an even steeper decline in growth after the elimination of the de minimis exemption in late August.
The full report is available for download here