This month’s Payments Index includes our quarterly metrics update, featuring credit card balances, delinquencies and digital wallet activity. The September data highlights the growing role of digital wallets in everyday payments, continued strength in card-not-present spending and consumers’ increasing focus on essential purchases amid persistent inflationary pressures.

Key Takeaways from September

Consumer spending remained strong despite mounting financial pressures. Debit purchases increased 9.5% year over year, while credit purchases rose 6%, with the Goods sector and elevated gasoline spending contributing significantly to growth.
Essential spending continued to outpace discretionary purchases. Non-discretionary spending generated stronger growth than discretionary spending across both debit and credit, underscoring consumers' focus on everyday needs and household necessities.
Digital payments gained further momentum. Digital wallet transactions increased 41% for debit and 37% for credit year over year, while card-not-present spending remained a major driver of overall payment growth.
Consumer sentiment weakened even as spending held firm. Confidence measures fell to multi-month lows, yet stable employment and continued consumer engagement supported strong payment activity heading into the final quarter of the year.

Download the October 2026 Velera Payments Index for deeper insights into consumer spending behavior, digital payment adoption, inflationary pressures and the latest quarterly credit card portfolio trends.

The Velera Payments Index October 2026