Dollar volume spent on debit cards in the U.S. rose by 14% as a result of generous government benefits and a change in consumers’ payment preferences that shifted away from checks, cash, and credit cards. This and other aspects of the current market for debit cards are reviewed in Mercator Advisory Group’s report, 2021 Annual U.S. Debit Card Market Data Review: Unprecedented Double-Digit Growth.

”This past year the market experienced a unique environment where consumers sharply shifted their payments towards the use of debit cards and because some of this shift came at the expense of credit cards, this was positive for debit issuers and, at the same time, positive for merchants as credit card transactions are nearly always more expensive to process than debit cards. Issuers are interested in encouraging the continued top-of-wallet position that debit cards have achieved, but competition from fintechs plus likely regulatory changes will make this an uphill battle,” comments Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report.

This report has 16 pages and 8 exhibits.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Mastercard, Pulse, Star, Visa.