PULSE: Debit Card Use Still at High Level

PULSE, the daughter company of Discover Financial Services, has conducted a new study which aims to show the current number of Americans who use of their debit cards in business transactions now that debit cards have stretched its capacity.

Before business establishments such as grocery stores and retail stalls have started to accept payments using debit cards, the use of these debit cards were not very much emphasized. However, now that business establishments have opened lines in accepting payments through debit card, the usage of these debit cards have increased and have remained very high.

Based on this research by PULSE, wherein they have commissioned global consulting firm Oliver Wyman to survey 64 leading debit card issuers, there was a ratio of 2 out of 3 debit card owners who use their debit cards on a regular basis. Even though the market insight has remained moderately in balance, there have been a large number of consumers who have now discovered the flexibility of their debit cards. Debit cards could now be used in grocery stores, convenience stores, and other business retails and establishments.

Now, debit card issuers says that with this stretching of the use of debit cards has posed a possible threat to their profits. There is about $118 per active card every year rate of the use of these cards. With the PIN-based default system of most business establishments and retails, the use of the debit card has significantly increased. In the PIN-based system, the growth of users increased since they have accepted the higher signature based transaction fees. A lot of the consumers, even with an annual growth of 13 percent per annum of PIN-based transaction fees, are positive that they can make up their missing revenues by their increased transaction volume.

All these results, along with the data gathered, have been published and shown in the PULSE study for the 2010 Debit Issuer Study. PULSE is known to be one of the leading automatic teller machine and debit card network in the country which serves about 4,400 banks nationwide. PULSE is under the company Discover Financial Services. Both offers solutions on ATM network services, PIN and signature debit products, credit products, stored value programs and also PIN-less bill payments. All of PULSE customers benefit from the DebitProtect which aims to guard debt cardholders as well as all their customers from debit card theft and even identity theft.