12% of Consumers Making Travel Purchases in January Experienced Payment Declines 

The average value of payment declines increased $53 in January, and that of payment fraud rose $11 during the same time period, according to Digital Economy Payments, a PYMNTS report based on a survey of 2,633 U.S. consumers who purchased groceries, retail products, food at restaurants or travel services.

Get the report: Digital Economy Payments

The average value of purchases involved in declined transactions leapt to $174 in January, up from $121 in December and $149 in November.

The increase was less steep when it came to fraud, as the average value of purchases involved in payment fraud climbed to $352 in January, up from $341 in December and $343 in November.

Of the four segments covered in the report, travel purchases were the ones in which consumers most commonly experienced payment declines — with 12% having that problem. This could be because consumers were spending higher amounts on travel purchases in January, and these high-ticket purchases are more commonly flagged as risky.

Among the other three product categories covered in the report, the share of consumers who experienced payment declines was significantly less, standing at 5% for groceries, 5% for food at restaurants and 3% for retail products.

Among the demographic groups included in the report, paycheck-to-paycheck living consumers who have issues paying bills were the ones most likely to experience payment declines. PYMNTS research shows that 26% of these consumers experienced payment declines in January.

In the other category of paycheck-to-paycheck living consumers — those who do not have issues paying bills — 11% experienced payment declines.

Only 6% of consumers who do not live paycheck to paycheck experienced payment declines.

Overall, among the entire survey sample, 11% of consumers experienced payment declines in January.