Payments by cards over cash increased during economic recovery

Improved economic times have had a significant impact on the United States cards and payments market, which grew by 4.6 percent last year, according to the market research firm ReportsnReports. The volume of payments made by ACH cards, prepaid cards and credit accounts grew by a compound annual growth rate of nearly 1.4 percent from 2007 to 2011. By last year, that growth - which had been slower during the recessionary period – resulted in 1.5 billion cards issued, with a dollar value of $4.8 trillion. The growth of online and mobile shopping, as well as improvements in per capita income, were seen as major contributors to the increasing use of card accounts. That was reflected mostly in the number of transactions performed by consumers and businesses. ReportsnReports found that figure went up by more than 8.8 percent from 51.6 billion transactions in 2007 to 72.4 billion last year. Debit card volume, accounting for about 39 percent of the market, outpaced credit cards, which had a share of 33.6 percent. Much of that activity was in mobile commerce from smartphones and tablets in the last couple of years. Mobile sales increased 90 percent in 2011 to $6.7 billion, compared to $3.5 billion in 2010.