Value-Conscious Consumers Continue to Drive Holiday Spending



ATLANTA, DEC. 23, 2009 – First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released First Data SpendTrend™ transaction data that compares Dec. 1 through Dec. 14, 2009 to the same period last year. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending using credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations.



Overall transaction growth remained healthy at 7.9 percent, while the Midwest experienced the highest growth rate of 10.8 percent. Transaction growth for all regions was up from November. Data indicates that consumers continued to focus on value, leading to large transaction increases in petroleum (13.4 percent) and value retailers (14.9 percent).



Same-store sales volume growth increased 6.9 percent year-over-year. This was an improvement over November’s growth rate of 6.2%. Overall transactions for the month showed a growth of 7.9 percent over 2008. Transactions in the month of November 2009 were 8.9 percent higher than the previous year.

December Transactions	CHANGE
Credit & Signature Debit	+5.1%
PIN Debit	+11.7%
EBT	+26.2%
Total Transactions	+7.9%
Note: Growth reflects same store transactions only.

Value merchants continued to outperform, both in terms of transaction growth, which increased to 14.9 percent, and sales volume growth of 13.5 percent. The average ticket held steady as consumers remained value-oriented through December. Additional data from the SpendTrend mid-December 2009 report can be accessed at www.firstdata.com from the home page dashboard.



Contacts

Media Relations

Cara Crifasi

303-967-6367

cara.taylor@firstdata.com