Consumer confidence fell in September as consumer concerns about the cost of fuel and other goods and services rose to new heights, The Conference Board said in a Tuesday (Sept. 29) press release. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell by 6.7 points during September...
Meet Tom and Elaine. (Our names, not theirs.) Both report household income between $65,000 and $70,000. Both are married, live in a city and say day-to-day spending is why they live paycheck to paycheck. For both, the next paycheck is critical to meeting their monthly...
The American consumer is still spending, but the Federal Reserve’s latest survey makes it increasingly difficult to speak of all consumers as though they were experiencing the same economy. The Fed’s August Beige Book, based on information collected through Aug. 24, found that consumer spending...
The biggest threat to the summer budget may be the expenses consumers can’t cancel. New PYMNTS Intelligence data suggests that groceries, utility bills and transportation costs are putting more pressure on household budgets than vacations, camps or back-to-school shopping. The findings come from “New PYMNTS...
October 07, 2026
Consumer credit is still growing, but consumers eased off the form of borrowing they can adjust most readily from month to month. Federal Reserve data released Wednesday (Oct. 7) show consumer credit expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.9% in August, less than half July’s revised 4.1% pace and the slowest since May. […]
September 01, 2026
The biggest threat to the summer budget may be the expenses consumers can’t cancel. New PYMNTS Intelligence data suggests that groceries, utility bills and transportation costs are putting more pressure...
August 25, 2026
Households squeezed by higher prices are getting better results when they treat budgeting like a toolbox, not a single pair of scissors. A new PYMNTS Intelligence data book, “Five Ways...
July 30, 2026
Seventeen percent of card issuers have reached the high customer lifetime value (CLTV) tier. What sets them apart isn’t the number of capabilities they’ve deployed, but the order in which...
September 29, 2026
Consumer confidence fell in September as consumer concerns about the cost of fuel and other goods and services rose to new heights, The Conference Board said in a Tuesday (Sept. 29) press release. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell by 6.7 points during September to reach 81.9 at the end of the month, according […]
August 21, 2026
European consumers’ inflation expectations inched down in July, the European Central Bank said in a Friday (Aug. 21) press release. Consumers’ median expectations for inflation over the next 12 months decreased from 3.0% in June...
February 24, 2026
Slight improvements in consumers’ expectations for business conditions, labor market conditions and incomes drove a turnaround in consumer confidence in February, The Conference Board said Tuesday (Feb. 24). The organization’s Consumer...
December 23, 2025
American consumers spent more this holiday season while using cross-channel shopping and artificial intelligence (AI) tools for bargain hunting and convenience, according to separate analyses by Mastercard and Visa. Mastercard SpendingPulse found that U.S....
