Debit spending rose across every category tracked in the second quarter, according to the SoFi Tech Solutions Debit Spend Index released yesterday, as consumers directed more dollars toward fuel, travel and entertainment while spending less per grocery trip.
The index, drawn from millions of anonymized and aggregated transactions processed on the SoFi platform formerly known as Galileo Financial Technologies, covers debit activity across more than 300 merchant category codes during April, May and June.
Fuel reshaped the essentials basket. Fuel spend grew 28.2% from the first quarter, accounted for nearly half of all growth in essentials, and overtook groceries as the largest share of essentials spending. A surge in global oil prices drove U.S. gas prices to a four-year high early in the quarter. Average spend per fuel transaction rose 3.2%, while average grocery spend per transaction fell 3.1% and utility spend per transaction dropped 8.3%.
Discretionary spending climbed. Spend on experiences, including movie theaters, attractions and sporting events, grew 23% quarter over quarter, with movie-theater spend nearly doubling at 92.9%. Travel spend rose 21% on 17.4% more transactions, though airline transactions grew just 10.7%, roughly half the rate of car rentals. Spirit Airlines shut down in May, which SoFi said likely contributed to higher average airfares and muted airline transaction growth.
Subscription payments eased to 16.1% of tracked debit transactions from 17.2% in the first quarter, but average subscription spend rose 8.5%. SoFi attributed part of the increase to merchants responding to tariff-driven cost pressure on imported goods by emphasizing promotions and perks rather than higher base prices.
SoFi said the quarter’s data aligned with a value-hunting pattern, with grocery transactions outpacing grocery dollars. The company cited BEA figures showing the PCE price index rose to 4.1% year over year in May from 3.8% in April.
The report also documented a shift in how consumers pay. Card on file, a debit card saved inside another app or account, carried more debit transactions than any other method for the first time in the index’s history. Saved cards accounted for 25% of debit transactions, up from 24% in the first quarter, and 30.5% of debit dollars, the largest value share of any method by 11 percentage points. The move pushed card on file past card-not-present as the most-used payment type.
Overall digital share eased to 62.4% of transactions from 63.6% in the first quarter, a decline SoFi attributed almost entirely to card-not-present activity. Contactless payments gained the most ground, led by a two-percentage-point rise in contactless NFC.
