Consumer Finance: April US credit card spend steady and getting more K-shaped

Research evidence excerpt

Consumer Finance: April US credit card spend steady and getting more K-shaped

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Consumer Finance

April US credit card spend steady and

getting more K-shaped

Industry Overview

Credit card spend trends solid through April 12 May 2026 Corrected

BAC aggregated credit card spending growth was +5.5% y/y in April, which was a Equity

modest acceleration from March (+5.3%). On an m/m basis, April credit card spend was United States

down -0.1%, roughly in line with historic seasonality. Higher income household spending Consumer Finance

growth m/m remains better than overall at +0.9%, 100bps better than overall spend.

Credit card spending behavior is important for card networks and card issuers because it

drives revenue, loan growth, and gives an insight on the health of the US consumer.

Readthrough to V/MA: credit and debit accelerate y/y

BAC credit card spending trends have been highly correlated with Visa/Mastercard US

purchase volumes/credit card volumes (Ex. 1). Total card spending per HH, as measured Mihir Bhatia

by BAC aggregated credit + debit cards, was up 4.8% y/y in April. Debit card spend ResearchBofAS Analyst

volume accelerated to +4.3% y/y (3.5% in March). May/June data will give more insight +1 415 436 3553

mihir.bhatia@bofa.com

into C2Q vols, though April trends show a y/y uptick, a positive read-through for V/MA.

Matthew C. O'Neill

Readthrough to AXP: high income outperformance persists ResearchBofAS Analyst

Credit card spending by higher income households is running stronger than overall credit +1 646 855 1681 matthew.c.oneill@bofa.com

card spending, growing 7.1% y/y in April, an acceleration from +6.5% in March. Y/y credit

Caroline Latta

card spend growth by higher income households was 160bps stronger than the overall Research Analyst