ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.–PSCU has provided newly updated numbers on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the ways members are spending money on their cards.
As CUToday.info reported here, the CUSO is offering ongoing analysis of year-over-year transaction activities of its owner credit unions’ members spending and shopping habits. The analysis is being conducted by PSCU’s Advisors Plus and Data & Analytics teams.
In this newest installment of the analysis, PSCU has compared the 13th week of the year–the week of March 23, 2020–with the week of March 25, 2019).
The Findings
Among the findings:
- Overall credit card spend was down 29.9% and overall debit card spend was down 18.1% year over year.
- While grocery stores/supermarkets saw a substantial bump in spend over the previous two weeks, the week of March 23 returned to a much lower growth rate of 24.9% for credit card and 10.0% for debit card, indicating that consumers were easing back from their “stock-up” purchases conducted during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PSCU said it found that while drug stores/pharmacies performed well over the prior two weeks, the week of March 23 yielded much different results. Credit card spend at drug stores grew by only 0.7% and debit card spend was actually down 7.5%. In the prior week, the growth rates were both very much positive at 33.0% and 27.4%, respectively.
- Purchases at the gas pump have been on a sharp decline over the past three weeks, with spend down 52.2% for credit card and 40.1% for debit card during the week of March 23. Lower gasoline prices at the pump, along with decreased transaction activity likely driven by the substantial increase in remote work and stay-at-home orders, contributed significantly to these declines, PSCU said.
- Consumer goods have also begun a significant decline, with an 18.6% decrease on credit card and a 17.7% decrease on debit card for the week of March 23.
‘Continued Downward Pressure’
“As anticipated, we began to more clearly see the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer spending this week,” said Glynn Frechette, SVP, Advisors Plus at PSCU. “As the situation evolves and more non-essential retail stores are closed, along with stay-at-home orders being put in place throughout the country, we expect continued downward pressure on consumer spend. We will continue to keep our credit unions apprised of these trends to help guide their decision-making and best serve their members in these challenging times.”