Cash-strapped consumers resorted to using credit cards more than debit cards during Black Friday 2020, according to automated clearing house BankservAfrica, which tracks bank transactions.
In an update released on Thursday, BankservAfrica’s Chief Business Officer Martin Grunwald said there was a high volume of credit card transactions this year.
“[Credit card] volumes totalled 3.6 million (R2 billion) compared to debit cards at a volume of 1 million (R370 million). It seems cash-strapped South Africans resorted to using their credit cards,” he said.
The highest credit card transaction was a staggering R514,484, while the highest debit card transaction was a more “modest” R264,709.
52% drop in Black Friday spending
In overall terms, Black Friday 2020 spending fell by a whopping 52 percent compared to Black Friday 2019. Similarly, transaction volumes fell by 33 percent year-on-year.
Grunewald said transactions tallied to 4.7 million and had a value of R2.9 billion, a far cry from 2019’s 7 million transactions and R6 billion value. “Black Friday 2020 showed its worst annual growth in our four years of reporting,” he added.
However, BankservAfrica noted that this year, many retailers spread their Black Friday deals throughout the month, not just on 27 November.
No midnight rush
Retailers did not open stores earlier than normal as in previous years when some stores opened at midnight. There were hardly any queues or mad rushes witnessed this year.
BankservAfrica also restricted its reporting to transactions on the actual Black Friday to maintain comparative reporting with previous years.
Furthermore, it does not process interbank transactions for all the banks, which means its data doesn’t provide the full picture.
Nevertheless, this year’s experience was “certainly different” for many South Africans, Grunewald said.
Despite the apparent cash crunch, there was steady growth in online shopping figures. “These statistics fared better year-on-year, but nowhere near the high volumes usually observed for in-store purchases,” he explained.