Lil' Buddy's Blog: Debit Plastic Exceeds Credit Plastic, for the First Time Ever!

THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!

Hey, you dogs!  It's me, Daddy's Little Girl, Gracie Moss!  Our Little White Dog, Buddy Holly Moss, is taking the night off tonight.  Truth be told, he's crying in his Old Style Beer over another heartbreaking Chicago Cubs loss tonight. 

It's early in the season, he tells me, but he thinks Northside Baseball in Chicago is looking all too familiar, once again.

Was scanning The Wall Street Journal today, and spotted an interesting article by reporter Robin Sidel.  The online post talks about usage of Debit or Banking Cards, and how, in the final quarter of 2008, purchases on Debit Cards exceeded purchases on Credit Cards for the first time in history.

It's a bit of a milestone, you dogs.  And it also reflects the added caution and frugality many humans are developing during these economic recessionary times.

According to San Francisco CA-based Visa International, debit card purchases using the company's branded Visa Cards during the Fourth Quarter, 2008 totaled $206 Billion, or 50.4% of their total volume, up from 40% as recently as 5 years ago.

It was 2003 when purchases made on debit or check cards jumped past the use of cash and checks at checkout lines in stores selling everything from electronic gadgets to groceries.  Today, as issuers of credit cards are trimming credit lines and increasing rates and fees to use their cards, more U.S. Consumers are developing a "spend it only if you have it" mentality, and opting for the debit cards, which immediately draw funds for payment from the user's checking or savings account.

March U.S. data show the personal savings rate among Americans rose 5% in January, to the highest level in nearly 14 years.  Revolving debt, on the other hand - mainly credit card balances - fell 9.7% last February, according to the Federal Reserve.

Visa's largest competitor, MasterCard, of Purchase NY, saw its debit card processing volume rise 13% last year, compared with a 2.2% decline in its credit card processing volume.

For banks, debit cards typically offer less profit margin, but accepting merchants still pay the same discount fees to accept the cards.  Use of debit cards is especially popular among younger human consumers, and is quite popular among all age ranges of dogs.

You see, we dogs don't have a lot of room in our fur for multiple cards, and the debit cards keep us frugal and on-budget, for those times we go out and hit the local PetSmart Store!

Enjoy the weekend, you dogs!  Use your plastic wisely, and responsibly!

Read my post via BlogChicagoHomes.com.

YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,

BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

(This Week - From Gracie Moss - Buddy Returns to Action Next Week!)