The Velera Payments Index December 2024: A Deep Dive into Holiday Spend — Part II

The 2024 holiday shopping season is in full swing and heading toward the rush of the final spending days. As multiple sentiment studies show continued consumer optimism and favorable expectations of inflation on the horizon, consumers spent record amounts online this year during the peak five-day shopping period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. In our December 2024 edition of the Velera Payments Index, we present the second of our three-part installment on holiday spending, which details both results from the peak five-day period (Nov. 28 through Dec. 2) and the month of November.

Key takeaways include:

• As consumers spent record amounts online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, overall debit purchases were up 22.3% and Goods sector debit purchases were up 11.1% within the Payments Index data for this intensive five-day spending period. Overall credit purchases were up 9.0% and Goods sector credit purchases were up 2.6%. 
• For the month of November, year-over-year growth rates were mixed, impacted by the 2024 Thanksgiving holiday and subsequent peak shopping days occurring five days later than in 2023. However, any appearance of softening in growth will likely be picked up in December, which includes a record Cyber Monday. Debit purchases were up 6.2%, while credit purchases were down 2.1% in November. Debit transactions were up 4.5% and credit transactions were up 0.4%. 
• With two-thirds of the 2024 holiday shopping season reported, growth in Goods sector debit purchases remained comfortably positive, up 4.8%, while growth in Goods sector credit purchases was down 2.2% for the cumulative shopping season through November. Of our tracked major retailers, all were positive for growth in debit purchases and negative for growth in credit card purchases. Amazon had the strongest growth for debit purchases, up 4.2%, and Walmart had the strongest growth in credit purchases, down 0.7% for November.

What should credit unions do now?

• Following the holidays, some consumers will take time to pay off credit card balances, resulting in higher-than-average utilization levels in the beginning of the year. Assess credit-worthy credit card members for a credit line increase in early 2025, enabling additional purchasing power throughout the year, as well as room for post-holiday balance transfers. 
• The period when consumer spending starts to ramp up following the post-holiday lag is the perfect time to focus on credit and debit card retention efforts by encouraging member re-engagement. 
• As credit card delinquencies remain elevated and tend to rise during the holiday season, consider resources to assist or supplement your credit union’s collection activities. Velera’s TriVerity offers a variety of first- and third-party services. 

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