Eye on E-Commerce: PSCU Registers Big E-Commerce Gains; Digital River Aids Manufacturers in D2C Sales

Card-not-present transactions continue to grow at financial institutions that use PSCU, a credit union service organization. In its weekly report released Monday, PSCU said CNP accounted for 55.5% of credit card purchase volume and 47.9% of transactions for the week ending Dec. 13. For debit, CNP represented 43.9% of purchase volume and 32.2% of transactions. 

Goods remain a strong category for CNP activity as more consumers are holiday shopping online. For the first six weeks of the holiday shopping period Nov. 2 through Dec. 13, CNP represented 57.3% of credit card purchases, up nearly 10 percentage points from the first six weeks of the holiday shopping period in 2019, and CNP purchases represented 40.3% of debit card transactions, up 8 percentage points.

CNP debit and credit for goods on Green Monday, the second Monday in December and typically the last day shoppers can place an online order to arrive in time for Christmas, are also up year over year. CNP credit purchases on Green Monday were 61.7% of purchases, up 5.2 percentage points compared to a year earlier, and debit CNP purchases were 43.9%, up 6.7 percentage points.

In related news, e-commerce payments provider Digital River introduced Monday three new programs created to help manufacturers develop a direct-to-consumer commerce (D2C) channel. The company says the new programs will enable manufacturers to develop a DTC channel in about six weeks in some instances.

With the programs, manufacturers can develop a D2C e-commerce platform that has access to 46 currencies, 26 local acquirers, the ability to process locally in 38 countries, and supports business in more than 240 countries and territories.

“This year has shown how important it is for brands to build and maintain a direct relationship with their customers,” Digital River chief executive Adam Coyle said in a prepared statement. “Brands that don’t develop direct customer relationships through a robust ecommerce channel are threatened not only by near-term changes brought on by the pandemic, but also by inevitable long-term changes in customer habits.”