Since October 2008 the savings rate of US citizens hasn’t dipped below 5 percent. This shows there’s a new attitude toward money and savings. With people feeling their jobs at risk, and few having secure retirement savings, austerity thinking has gripped the nation.
Credit card companies Mastercard and Visa have reported that the results have affected their card sales. Overall credit card usage has risen 14%, but the growth has come almost entirely from the use of debit cards. Yes, debit cards.
Last year debit cards were used to pay for $408 billion in goods, and the total is $465 billion for the same period this year. As to credit card usage, it grew from $342 billion last year to $345 billion, up less than a percent.
Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of US economic activity, but it looks like it’s not going to be the prop that raises us out of recession. Debit cards are becoming the rage because they enforce frugality and budgets; you cannot buy more than the cash you put into the cards.
AccountNow is one of the debit cards that consumers are using most.
