RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – Shoppers who belong to credit unions spent 15% more and made 15% more transactions during the peak holiday shopping season in 2011 than in 2010, according to an analysis by CO-OP Financial Services and Saylent Technologies.
“This month-long holiday spending surge among credit union members is even higher than Black Friday sales growth among the same group, which we found grew 8.1% year over year,” said Stan Hollen, president of CO-OP Financial.
The holiday sales analysis is based on more than 71.9 million transactions representing $2.8 billion in spending made between Nov. 25 and Dec. 25, 2011. Drawn from debit card transactions across 563 credit unions processed by CO-OP Financial Services, the year-over-year comparison was performed through an analytics solution, CO-OP Total Revelation, powered by Saylent Technologies, and was conducted by Saylent’s Insight360 consulting team.
“Our analysis revealed a remarkable 10% increase in the number of debit cards in use during the holiday season, the result of a burgeoning consumer interest in credit unions,” said Tyson Nargassans, president of Saylent Technologies. “The CO-OP Total Revelation solution provides detailed payment intelligence that helps card issuers uncover hidden opportunities and insights to better serve their expanding roster of members.”
The analysis spanned 30 days of spending activity among the credit union members both at brick-and-mortar establishments and on the Internet. Some of the key highlights:
• ’Tis the season for politics: The end of 2011 saw a spike in political contributions, up 513% over the same time last year, as the U.S. Presidential campaign season went into full swing.
• Holiday cheer: Tavern and alcoholic beverage purveyors toasted the end of the year with a 48% increase in sales.
• A season of giving: Contributions to charitable and social service organizations were up 38% year over year.
• Stocking up: Buying clubs and shopping services bulked up with a 125% sales increase.
• Popular gifts: Among the merchandise categories showing strongest gains were leather goods (up 42%), records and CDs (up 42%), flowers and nursery stock (up 40%), bicycles (up 22%), computer software (up 21%), books (up 21%), candy and nuts (up 18%), and pets (up 17%).
