Although credit cards are used less (and consumption with debt is on the rise), there are expenses that people “card” more than before, especially during the holiday season, such as car accessories, restaurant meals and grocery shopping.
This was revealed by a study by Prisma Medios de Pago which measured sales during fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
This consumption monitoring has revealed that the purchases of auto and motorcycle spare parts increased by 60%; use in gourmet shops, 44% and in supermarket chains, plastic was used 36% more.
Other items that caused customers to pay for plastics were education and health, with 32%, and pharmaceutical costs, with 30%.
Interestingly, despite high inflation, households use debit cards more than credit cards, one of the main sources of finance for families.
In this sense, Julián Ballarino, Head of Institutional Relations at Prisma Medios de Pago, commented: “Analyzing the measurement by transaction, in 2022 the trend of recomposition of the use of credit cards is confirmed while the growth of debit cards continues ”. .
“Debit card purchases are supported more than 50% of the total volume traded, confirming the trend of its use for payments”, added Ballarino.
On the other hand, according to the Prisma study, “it continues to grow strongly cash withdrawal in shops thanks to the greater coverage of this service, the increase in withdrawal limits to $30,000 and its ease of use. The main extraction points are supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations,” commented Ballarino.
Another feature that consumer behavior is showing is the number of installments they choose to split their purchases. In this sense, what can be seen in the last period analyzed is that the preference for short-term financing plans is growing.
From time to time, the amounts financed (not taking into account purchases with Ahora 12, 18, etc.) in two and three installments they accounted for 46.41% of sales. In four and six installments, 38.16%. While consumption financed by seven to 12 installments concentrates 12.62% and consumption financed by 13 to 24 installments, 1.31% of the total.
NEITHER
Source: Clarin
