The Merchant Processing Guru

The Merchant Processing Guru Tip#18: Some facts about the credit card processing industry

Here are some interesting facts about this industry from 2007 that you might like to know.

58.3 Billion electronic payments were made in 2007, totaling a whopping $36.4 Trillion (this is all forms of electronic payment such as ACH, direct debits, etc.).
24.7 Billion transactions were made using a credit card at $2.5 Trillion, this is a growth of 9.7% from 2000.
20.6 Billion transactions were made using a debit card totaling $1.5 Trillion in sales with a growth of 25.5% from 2000.
Check payments numbered 36.7 Billion with a value of $39.3 Trillion. This is a decline of 4.3% since 2004

Studies show that consumers spend 40% more with a credit card compared to cash

A report by AC Nielsen shows that by the year 2020 only 10% of transactions will be made in cash.

In 2004, for the first time in history, electronic payments surpassed check payments. So with checks & cash on the decline, credit cards, online banking and other forms of electronic payments are fast becoming the norm. So if you are in a business that works directly with the consumer and you do not accept credit cards yet as a form of payment, you might want to give that another look as pretty soon it will be unavoidable.