Javelin: Credit card use to outpace debit in coming years

While U.S. consumer credit card debt has plummeted since the beginning of the recession, shoppers may be willing to incur higher balances this season, particularly when it comes to online purchases, according to the latest Online Retail Payments Forecast from Javelin Research. Credit cards are increasing in popularity as a payment option. This year, U.S. retail ecommerce sales will see a 16 percent hike to reach $309 billion. They are further forecast to reach an estimated $444 billion by 2016. "After several years of declining use, credit cards are poised for resurgence," said Beth Robertson, director of payments research at Javelin. "Despite the nation's very rocky economic recovery, consumers appear to have halted their belt-tightening and bank incentives to use credit cards rather than debit are gaining appeal." Javelin projected that the total payments volume for online credit card use among U.S. consumers will climb 63 percent from 2011 to 2016, while the same figure for debit cards is expected to increase a mere 2 percent over the same period. Such trends are likely to drive up debt volumes as well, underscoring the need for organizations to leverage consumer credit risk management policies to protect themselves from risk exposure.