First Data

July Card Spending Growth Up On Easy Prior Year Comparison

ATLANTA, AUG. 11, 2010 – First Data Corporation , a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend™ analysis for the full month of July 2010 compared to July 2009. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations.

After three consecutive months of decelerating growth, July 2010 card spending growth improved due in part to an easy year-over-year comparison. Same-store dollar volume growth was 8.5% (8.2% excluding Gasoline Stations) and transaction growth was also higher at 9.2% (9.1% excluding Gasoline Stations) in July, compared to June’s growth of 6.8% and 7.3%, respectively.

Discretionary card spending growth increased in July. Hotel same-store dollar volume growth was 5.7% , a significant increase over June’s growth rate of 2.2%, as many consumers traveled over the July 4 ^th holiday.  Food Services/Drinking Places (including Restaurant/QSR) dollar volume growth was 7.0% , marking its highest year-over-year growth in over 18 months. 

Signature debit surpassed all other card types for the second consecutive month in July with transaction growth of 13.2% , which was its highest year-over-year growth rate for 2010. Dollar volume growth for signature debit was also strong at 13.7% , an increase over June’s rate of 11.7%. 

Average tickets continued to decline, decreasing -0.7% (-0.8% excluding Gasoline Stations) and marking the largest year-over-year decline since January 2010. The decline in average tickets was related to deflation in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI declined in May and June and probably also declined in July.

Additional insights from the SpendTrend July 2010 report can be accessed at www.firstdata.com or by calling SpendTrend Customer Care at (800) 430-0169.

About First Data
First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services using virtually any form of electronic payment. Whether the choice of payment is a gift card, a credit or debit card or a check, First Data securely processes the transaction and harnesses the power of the aggregate data to deliver intelligence and insight for millions of merchant locations and thousands of card issuers in 36 countries. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com .

Media Relations Contact:
Elizabeth Grice, First Data
303-967-8526
elizabeth.grice@firstdata.com

First Data SpendTrend, a macro-economic indicator, is based on aggregate same-store sales activity in the First Data Point of Sale Network. First Data SpendTrend does not represent First Data’s financial performance.