Credit Card Users Are Biggest Spenders at Restaurants

PYMNTS data reveals that debit card payments for restaurants are the most common, but high-income consumers are opting for credit.

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Given the tendency of credit card users to buy more expensive food, restaurants and other businesses that rely on restaurant sales are working hard to attract the loyalty of this demographic. Grubhub, for example, announced last year offered Bank of America credit card holders a year of free shipping subscriptions.

“It’s truly a win-win, with Bank of America now rewarding cardholders with offers and perks from restaurants they’ll love, and Grubhub leveraging Bank of America’s broad and loyal customer base to drive more orders to owners and drivers. restaurant,” Grubhub Vice President of Loyalty Launika Raykar said in a statement at the time.

More than 200 restaurants, meanwhile, are participating in the fall in American Express Members Week, looking to entice cardholders by promising a $25 statement credit for purchases of $75 or more.

“The Members Week campaign presents card members with Resy’s list of restaurant choices — who we know eat out more and spend more than non-card members — across countless marketing touchpoints,” Alex Lee, CEO of Resy and vice president of American Express Dining, to PYMNTS in a interview. “This is great visibility for participating restaurants and will likely drive new customers into their dining area.”

By Numbers

Research from the PYMTS study Digital Economy Payments: Going Digital To Pay for Travel and Restaurant Expensestaken from a balanced census panel survey of more than 3,200 US consumers, found that 37% of restaurant customers paid for their last restaurant purchase by debit card, while only 33% did so by credit card.

However, the study found that while debit card payments accounted for $25.3 billion in restaurant sales in the survey month, credit card transactions totaled $29.8 billion. With that said, it’s clear that if restaurants can cater to the needs and preferences of credit card users, they have a chance to make a lot of money.