Visa has announced that consumer spending got healthier in February, hitting 109.3 in February, up from January’s 102.4, according to a Thursday (March 10) press release.
The Visa Spending Momentum Index (SMI) is a way to look at the health of consumer spending. When it rises above 100, it means things are getting better.
The release notes that as COVID-19 cases began to fall as January came to an end, the spending momentum began to improve.
If the SMI is below 100, it means the spending momentum is getting weaker.
The release said that spending momentum was getting better across every age group, with hopes to cut down on a three-month slide, and it saw biggest uptick in U.S. consumers over the age of 65. This helped out with a gap that had widened during the pandemic between that category and younger Americans between the ages of 25 and 44.
“We have been surprised by the resiliency of U.S. consumers through the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic and persistent elevated inflation,” said Wayne Best, Visa’s chief economist. “We will continue to watch closely how inflation affects consumer spending as the year progresses.”
The release noted that the SMI rose in all four regions of the country, and that it was especially strong in the south and northeast. This means that there’s been a reversal of the deceleration in spending momentum for those areas in February, though severe winter weather had apparently hobbled things in January along with the virus cases.
Visa has also been working with Multi Level Group, an Abu Dhabi FinTech, to help promote contactless digital solutions in North Africa.
See also: Visa, MLG Collaborate on Contactless Transit in North Africa
The partnership will focus on transit solutions, making it so passengers can pay for rides using contactless Visa prepaid and co-branded cards or wearable devices.
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