According to The Beatles, all you need is love. On Valentine’s Day, love often takes the form of a gift or experience shared with partners, friends, family members and even pets.
We exchanged hand-made cards and candy hearts with elementary school classmates, and most of us continue to appreciate chocolate, flowers or a night out on February 14. So much so that, according to the National Retail Federation, American consumers spent an average of $161 on Valentine’s Day gifts, meals and experiences for a total of more than $20 billion in 2019 alone.1
Expressions of love needn’t cost money, but when they do, many Valentine’s Day purchases involve the use of a credit or debit card. With more than $1.5 trillion in annual card processing volume for both small businesses and Fortune 500 brands, J.P. Morgan has unique insight into such peak holiday shopping activity. Our data scientists compared aggregated and de-identified card authorization volume across a broad set of online merchants as a way to measure year-over-year changes in e-commerce spending related to Valentine’s Day.
So were America’s sweethearts in the pink this Valentine’s Day?
Our data says YES.
J.P. Morgan’s card authorization volume from February 8 to February 14 increased a heart-pounding 22 percent over the comparable period for 2019. Card authorization volume on Valentine’s Day itself increased 33 percent compared to 2019. That’s a lot of love.
In addition to being a payments processing powerhouse, J.P. Morgan provides our clients with unique, relevant and valuable analytics and expertise that helps them grow revenue, manage transaction costs and deliver great customer experiences. To learn how your payment data can be transformed into actionable insight, please contact your J.P. Morgan representative.
