Bank of America clients’ aggregate credit and debit card spending reached $65 billion in January 2022, a 16% increase over January 2021. Credit card spending increased by 28% compared to January 2021, as spending on vacation, shopping, and food rebounded from a low point early last year.
For January, credit and debit card spending by lower-income consumers (<$50K) was up 7% over January 2021. This follows accelerated growth of 23% year-on-year (January 2021 vs January 2020), a period during which consumers received economic impact payments. Credit and debit card spending by clients in higher income brackets ($100K+) continued to grow, up 23% in January 2022 vs January 2021, with outsized spending on travel and entertainment and elevated growth in spending at retailers.
Payment activity by cash and cheques was down 7% year-over-year as clients continued to transition to more convenient, digital forms of payment. The number of payments sent using Zelle surpassed cheques written by Bank of America’s clients in 2021, and are 20% higher in January 2022. Bank of America announced that its approximately 67 million consumer clients made $335 billion in total payments during January, a 17% increase over January 2021 and the second-highest month of spending on record.
