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-Scott

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Credit card companies say that consumers are healthy

Our quote of the week last week came from Mastercard’s CEO who said that “consumer spending remains healthy” and that August trends have remained similar to those in July. Mastercard wasn’t the only credit card company that saw this picture either. Visa, American Express, and multiple credit card issuing banks also voiced some form of the same perspective.

For the past couple of weeks, we’ve written in this commentary that the low-income consumer is struggling and that consumer weakness appears to be expanding. The data from these credit card companies appears to contradict elements of that narrative.

When the data conflicts, the perspective of the credit card companies must win out. The credit card companies now process a meaningful portion of global GDP. Because of that, they have the best view of the economy, especially with respect to the consumer.

Still, we’re seeing lots of commentary from other companies that the economy is slowing, including this week from Blackstone, which brings its own proprietary information from its operating companies. Blackstone’s global head of private equity, Joe Baratta, noted a “definitive slowing in growth” that is impacting both consumers and corporate spend. This echoes comments we’ve heard from others.