Information & Analytics Services

First Data Analytics

Consumer payment analytics and insight that power decision making.

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First Data SpendTrend provides unique US consumer spending trends for merchants and financial institutions through a suite of proprietary analytical tools.

First Data Advantages

SpendTrend supports better-informed decisions related to forecasting, sales performance benchmarking, regulating inventory levels and tactical deployment of promotions.

Key components

SpendTrend offers a variety of analytical options to meet your specific needs:

SpendTrend Macro—First Data’s flagship analytics tool—macro-economic indicator provides insight into real US consumer buying behavior at the point-of-sale and tracks same store sales growth data by industry, payment type and geographic region
SpendTrend Web—Web-enabled format provides faster delivery, 24x7 access, extensive data sets along with interactive querying tool—enables subscribers to filter specific regions, industries or payment types for more granular analysis
SpendTrend Closed Loop Prepaid Cards—Monthly indicator provides 13 month trend tracking on key prepaid closed loop metrics of activations, redemptions and reloads. Insights in the four major prepaid categories are invaluable for forecasting, sales stimulation or tactical promotions deployment during key retail seasons

Related Content:

Information & Analytics Services Download PDF – 326 KB

First Data SpendTrend Download PDF – 330 KB

Exec Overview: Black Friday SpendTrend Download PDF – 729 KB

SpendTrend Mid-Month Flash
December 20, 2011 Download PDF – 436 KB

First Data Advisors

Insight based payments advice and consulting.

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First Data Advisors, the consulting unit of First Data Corporation, leverages unique intellectual property from First Data SpendTrend combined with deep domain expertise to deliver actionable payments strategy consulting services.

First Data Advantages

Our advisors, with more than 25 years in the payments and financial services industries, harness the power of our vast transactional datasets, and help you grow your business and take advantage of new opportunities.

Key components

Custom consulting—Client engagements allow us to take a deep-dive approach to solving a specific business problem where our data and analytical expertise can lead to creative solutions.
Payment performance benchmarking—We translate proprietary SpendTrend data into customized performance benchmarking by card payment type, same store sales volume, and other relevant metrics.
Syndicated research—We publish a regular series of in-depth analyses that delve into critical areas of concern for our customers, ranging from industry-specific issues to regulatory dynamics with broad-based impact.

Related Content:

Executive Summary: 2011 Year-End Prepaid Gift Card Market Analysis: Emerging Strategies and Demand Drive Surge in Sales Executive Summary
This analysis focuses on the major merchant categories of Casual Dining, Quick Service Restaurants, Specialty Retail and All Gift Card Categories. It provides in-depth analysis that delves into the critical trends that took place in the prepaid gift card market and covers the all important holiday season. The full analysis is available by calling Customer Care at 1-800-430-0169 for an introductory price of $1,250 through March 30, 2012. First Data customers receive a deeper discount and must call for pricing.
> Order the full report
Executive Summary: Beyond the Form 1099-K – Assessing Merchant Impacts & Opportunities from the Upcoming IRS Reporting Requirement Changes
This analysis considers in detail the requirements of the introduction of Form 1099-K as well as the implications of this new reporting process for both merchants and their payment processing partners. It also includes recommendations that will help merchants make the most of this requirement. (First Data prepared this report in August 2011. Subsequently, the IRS published IRS Notice 2011-88 (delay of backup withholding for one year) and IRS Notice 2011-89 (additional penalty relief for 2011 reporting). Please consult your tax advisor should you require additional information.)
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Executive Summary: 2011 Mid-Year Prepaid Performance Update
Against a backdrop of continuing macro-economic uncertainty, prepaid gift card performance in the first half of 2011 was resilient – growing at a higher rate than the general US economy. This analysis examines the growth of gift card activations through the first six months of 2011 for the categories of Casual Dining, Specialty Retail, Quick Service Restaurants and Total All Closed Loop.
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Executive Summary: Post-Recession Analysis: Grocery Industry Average Ticket Still Suffering
Grocery merchants are feeling the effects of the dramatic change in consumer behavior caused by the 2007-2009 recession, the credit crisis and the sluggish post-recession recovery. Same store comparisons by payment type across the US by region uncovered several key insights.
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Executive Summary: Rebirth of Credit – Minus the Debt; Profitability Strategies and the New American Consumer
While consumers fled credit cards during the Great Recession, usage is returning, but with key differences from the days before the Recession took hold.
> Order the full report

Information & Analytics Services Download PDF – 326 KB

First Data Advisors Download PDF – 473 KB

Prepaid Benchmarking Toolkit Download PDF – 225 KB

First Data Reporting

A comprehensive set of reporting solutions.

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First Data streamlines our merchants’ important task of managing their payment processing account through a comprehensive set of reporting solutions.

First Data Advantages

Beginning with updated merchant statements that integrate user-driven enhancements, to packaged reports covering the most popular datasets, through to custom configured raw data files, First Data supports a full range of reporting options to cover merchants of all size.

Key components

Real-time access - An innovative suite of web-accessible tools provides our merchants with 24x7 convenience to payments metrics dashboards and real-time querying solutions for the level of granularity each merchant prefers.
Pre-configured reports – A full suite of packaged reports cover the essentials of managing your payment processing data, available online for your convenience.
Raw data delivery – For those merchants who prefer to download raw data files directly to internal accounting systems, Data File Manager provides the user-friendly, web-accessible tools to automate this critical process.

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