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First Data Releases SpendTrend Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards December Analysis

Consumers continued to reload closed loop gift cards in December with reload dollar volume growth at 47.0% and transaction growth at 50.9%. Reload transaction growth at Specialty Retail merchants posted a yearly high of 5.2% as many consumers reloaded these previously-used gift cards to support their holiday spending.

Although activation dollar volume growth has been positive year-over-year at 6.5%, growth has not been this slow since April 2011. Additionally, redemption average ticket growth fell to -1.1% as many merchants launched promotions and offered discounts to drive traffic into stores during December. Average tickets of redemptions posted their lowest year-over-year growth since June 2011.

"The holiday season triggered strong use of reloadable gift cards; while the slow down in activation dollars and transactions between November and December may indicate that many consumers purchased their holiday gift cards early," said Silvio Tavares, SVP and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions, which publishes SpendTrend. "Further, the continuous growth of gift card reloads in December shows that consumers may have used gift cards to control their own spending even as they took advantage of deep discounts."

The SpendTrend Closed-Loop Prepaid Card analysis is part of First Data's suite of SpendTrend analytics services. For more information on First Data SpendTrend, visit www.firstdata.com/infoanalytics or call SpendTrend Customer Care at 800-430-0169.

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Around the world, every second of every day, First Data makes payment transactions secure, fast and easy for merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its vast product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability. Whether the choice of payment is by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter, First Data takes every opportunity to go beyond the transaction.

First Data SpendTrend, a macro-economic indicator, is based on aggregate same-store sales activity in the First Data Point of Sale Network. First Data SpendTrend does not represent First Data's financial performance.

First Data
Kwiyoung Baumgarten, 404 890 2713
kwiyoung.baumgarten@firstdata.com