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Press
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Card purchases declined along with consumer demand in 2009, with some recovery in the final quarter
SERVIRED CARDS USED FOR MORE THAN 10% OF TOTAL SPANISH HOUSEHOLD SPENDING
Bank cards issued by ServiRed members* were used for 10.13% of all household consumer spending in 2009, a slight gain from the 10.02% posted in 2008, and thus regarded as a success amidst the decline in consumption during the year. However, the market share represented by card purchases keeps us far from attaining the fundamental objective of any efficient payments system, which is the replacement of cash, which some European countries have already decided to eliminate in the short term.
Much remains to be done in Spain, where card use lags far behind the European average. Card purchases account for 43.3% of all consumer spending in the United Kingdom, 29.7% in France, and 27.8% Portugal, to cite Spain's nearest European neighbours.
In monetary terms, cash purchases with ServiRed cards in 2009 amounted to 62,366 million euros, down 5.4% from 2008, and representing the first decline since cards were introduced in Spain, in a faithful reflection of the economic crisis. Curiously, the total number of card transactions increased by almost 1%, and the number of card purchases rose by 1.4%, though the average purchase amount fell by more than 6%, which can be only partly attributed to the decline in prices.
The decline was steady in the first three quarters, but the final one brought a 0.5% uptick with respect to the same quarter of 2008. There was also a 4.2% increase in total transactions and a 4.7% rise in card purchases in the last quarter.
ServiRed closed the year with nearly 40.3 million cards issued, showing little change from the previous year, along with 723,689 participating merchants, and 32,661 ATMs.
Data on card purchases abroad also reflect a decline, either because of the decrease in foreign travel by Spaniards, or because of fewer purchases from non-Spanish websites. Foreign purchases made with ServiRed cards shrank by 2.4% in the year.
The geographical breakdown of the total of nearly 5,000 million euros spent abroad last with ServiRed put the U.K. in the lead, accounting for 22.41% of total foreign purchases, a rise of 7.9% from the previous year. France was in second place, with 13.81% of the total, representing a 1.8% increase. The 2.4% decline in the total is explained chiefly by the 14% decrease in spending in the United States, which accounted for 10% of total volume.
But the drop in card purchases by foreigners at Spanish merchants with ServiRed terminals was even more severe, at 8.4% for the year.
Spending with foreign cards at ServiRed terminal last year reached 5,862 million euros in 2009. Purchases by the French outstripped those by the British, traditionally the biggest foreign spenders in Spain. Card purchases by the French increased by 4% to reach 24% of the total, while British card purchases plunged by 25%, to account for 17.4% of the total amount.
ATM Use
Cash withdrawals from ATMs with ServiRed cards declined by 3.2% to 60,556 million euros, but for the third consecutive year this total was smaller that that of card purchases, a positive trend. The number of cash withdrawals in the year was less than half that of purchases with cards, but the average withdrawal amount, 117.27 euros, was more than double the average purchase amount of 49.14 euros.
Of total cash withdrawals, 81.08% were made at the cardholders' own banks, and 16.45% at other ServiRed member institutions, while just 1.28% was made though other domestic payments networks. Withdrawals made with ServiRed cards abroad amounted to 741 million euros, or 1.19% of the total.
* At the end of 2009 ServiRed members included 103 banks, saving banks, and credit cooperatives.
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