Credit Union Members Return to Stores: CO-OP & PSCU Report

Credit union members ventured out to stores more in November, but the two major payments CUSO gave mixed reports Wednesday on last month’s holiday shopping.

CO-OP Financial Services, the payments CUSO based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., measured changes from October to November and found the gains were weaker than normal.

PSCU, the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based payments CUSO, measured November’s sales from a year earlier and found holiday spending was strong.

Meanwhile, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday that retail and food service sales in November rose 0.3% from October and rose 18.2% from November 2020 after seasonal adjustments.

CO-OP’s Payment Trends Report showed gasoline, lodging, dining and travel all showed declines in transactions and purchase volume from October to November for both credit and debit cards. Gains were shown for “Amazon/Bookstores,” computers, digital goods and retail.

Retail spending rose 20% by credit card and 12% by debit card from October to November.

“Fewer people shopped over the Thanksgiving weekend this year, marking the second year in a row of decline,” CO-OP’s report said.

“However, more consumers ventured back into stores than in 2020, and overall retail sales were up by 14% for the weekend over the same period in 2020, and 5.8% over 2019. Online shoppers fell by 15 million for the long weekend versus 2020.”

CO-OP credit union data showed modest over-the-month gains in the number of retail transactions of 10% by credit cards and 4% by debit in November, which the report called “a disappointing showing for what, in years past, has been the kickoff to holiday spend.”

“These mixed results were a product of various factors, including an early start to the holiday shopping season, rising concerns with the new omicron variant, as well as continued supply chain shortages that have hit online merchants such as Amazon particularly hard,” it said.

Beth Phillips, CO-OP’s director of strategic portfolio growth, said the gains were lower than years past because consumers began their holiday shopping earlier this year due to supply-chain concerns and retailers began promoting sales well in advance of Black Friday.

PSCU’s Payment Index showed spending growth from November 2020 to November 2021 was 25% by credit card and 18% by debit card.

“Consumer spending remains strong,” the PSCU report said. “While retailers have extended this year’s holiday season with sales that started in early October, November’s results show a stronger uptick in spending at the start of the month.”

PSCU also found the number of transactions for goods with a card present were 20% higher than a year earlier.

“Over the two-month holiday period thus far, consumers have notably resumed in-person shopping,” it said.

Goods sector spending in November was up 14.9% by credit card and 10.5% by debit card from a year earlier. It followed October gains of 13.6% by credit card and 9.5% by debit card.

PSCU’s payments index was based on data from credit unions that have been processing payments with PSCU since January 2019. It encompassed 2.5 billion transactions valued at $123 billion of credit and debit card activity in the 12 months ending Nov. 30.