Last week Congress paved the way for bigger cuts with regard to debit card interchange fees. This will take effect this summer. According to the latest data regarding revolving credit and payment card usage, the credit card and debit card issuers are now trying to get the maximum out of the interchange fees, while they can still manage to squeeze something out. However, the biggest driving factor would be the economy, when it comes to the mix in payment cards.

The report from First Data Corp for the month of May has noted a growth in volume year after year (which was only around 6.6% at some of these merchant locations)on its processing platforms for about a year. This is the lowest growth rate per month during 2011. The rate at which transactions increased was also at 5.1% which was the lowest rate since the last 12 months.

But there was a surge in the credit card charge volumes and a steady growth was noted in the signature debit cards which outpaced the PIN debit cards.

While summarizing the entire report, First Data stated that consumer spending had hit a low during the month of May due to the high rate of unemployment. This raised concerns over recovery. Lower and middle-income groups are cutting back on their spending due to the pressures of inflation. There was a hike in gas prices during early May and have continued to remain high. As a result of this, consumers are saving less and are using credit to cover their daily expenses.