Visa estimated US consumers “mystery spending” to make $1,000 a year, survey

The international survey of more than 12,000 adults in 12 markets around the world, including 1,000 US consumers, conducted by Visa measured consumers’ their “mystery spending”, or the cash they spend but cannot account for every week.

 The survey found US consumers cannot account for an average of $21 per week in cash spending, adding up to more than $1,000 per year. Youngsters, aged between 18 and 24, responds to lose track of $2,500 annually, more than twice the average amount.

 US consumers said they were most likely to mystery spending while:

 • Purchasing food and other groceries - 34% 
 • Leisure shopping for non-essentials – 32% 
 • Enjoying a night on the town - 31%
 • Dining out - 26 %

 Moreover, in 22% cases, US consumers feel hard to track spending making small cash purchases.

 According to the Visa survey, debit cards can provide an easy and effective way for consumers to access available funds for purchases. So the survey US respondents agree:

 • Overall, debit cards ranked as Americans’ primary payment method for personal and household expenses, 37%, which is considerably above cash, 22%. 
 • 68% of debit card users prefer to use their debit card instead of cash whenever possible. 
 • 76% US consumers using debit cards agree the cards provide an easy way to track spending. 
 • Three in five 61% of US consumers who use a debit card say that using their debit card helps keep their mystery spending to a minimum. 
 • 63% of US debit card users find that tracking their debit card spending helpful in sticking to a budget. 
 • US consumers whose primary payment method is their debit card would rather give up coffee, their MP3 player, their mobile phone, email, visiting social network sites - and even cash - for one week than they would their debit card.

 The research also contains data related to same international trends. Heightened spending vigilance stands out as a global phenomenon while various regions showed distinct patterns in tracking spending.

 • 20% of consumers around the world report they are unable to account for percent of their cash spending each week. 
 • Australians reported the largest cash disappearance, both in terms of actual amount lost ($59) and also percentage of total spend – 34%. While adults in India reported only $8 missing weekly, this is actually 31% of their total weekly cash spend. 
 • Compared to 12 months ago, the cash-oriented countries of Russia - 38% and India - 74% believe they are losing track of more cash at a significantly higher rate than US consumers do - 13%. 
 • 74% of consumers in Korea and 71% consumers in South Africa either “strongly agree” or “agree” that use of debit cards keeps mystery spending to a minimum. 
 • Shopping for food or other groceries, 43%, leisure shopping and/or shopping for nonessentials, 33%, and out for the night or socializing, 32%, were the top spending categories around the world where consumers feel they lose track of spending.