Debit Card Purchases Still Increasing, Study Finds

Debit card use at the point of sale continues to grow, with cardholders who use both PINs and signatures completing more total debit transactions than those who use one method or the other, according to a First Data Corp. study released Thursday. Seventy-four percent of 2007 study respondents had used their debit card at the point of sale in the previous 30 days, an increase from 70% of respondents in 2006 and 62% in 2005, according to the study. Cardholders using both PINs and signatures performed more debit transactions during the previous 30 days than those using only PINs or signatures, according to the study. Cardholders using both methods completed 23.3 transactions during the previous month, while PIN-only users completed 12.2 and signature-only users completed 17, according to the study. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data conducted phone interviews with roughly 3,500 adults in November and December 2006 and between October and December 2007. A First Data representative was unavailable to comment by CardLine deadline