The Spring Surge: New Galileo Debit Spend Index Charts Q1 Spend and the Year Ahead

Key Terms

merchant category code financial

A merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit label assigned to a business that identifies the kind of goods or services it sells, like restaurants, gas stations, or medical clinics. Investors care because MCCs influence how transactions are routed, which fees, rewards and regulations apply, and how a payments company or retailer earns revenue; think of it as the industry tag that helps determine pricing, risk and customer incentives.

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HOTEL SPEND CLIMBED 38%, HOME AND GARDEN JUMPED 46% AS EARLY TAX REFUNDS AND WARMER WEATHER OPENED WALLETS

Q1 2026 AT A GLANCE:

• Saved cards grew 3x faster than tap-to-pay, the largest shift of any debit payment method
• Fast food and sit-down restaurants both grew more than 18%, reversing Q4's trade-down trend
• Every recurring payment category bounced back in March

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American consumers spent cautiously on debit through January and early February before early tax refunds and spring weather sparked a March spending surge, according to the inaugural Galileo Debit Spend Index. The new quarterly report from Galileo Financial Technologies, soon to be known as SoFi Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: SOFI), captures millions of anonymized and aggregated transactions to capture how Americans spend with debit. Across nearly every discretionary category, spending jumped double digits between February and March.

Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending and roughly 30% of that spending is with debit. The Galileo Debit Spend Index covers more than 300 Merchant Category Code classifications across all 50 U.S. states, giving the industry a consistent quarterly read on a category that has historically been tracked less systematically than credit.

Q1's biggest spending shifts:

• Travel breaks loose, costs rise: hotel spend +38.1%, airlines +36.0%, travel agencies +42.5%, all big jumps from Q4's quieter pace.
• Dining rebounds: fast food and sit-down dining grew in tandem, rather than one replacing the other, reversing the Q4 trade-down.
• Home and garden goes big: +45.5% in dollars, led by garden and lawn supply (+144.1%), swimming pools (+88.7%), and hardware stores (+76.9%).

"Consumers showed real resilience in Q1, balancing a cautious start to the year against a strong March rebound. Travel dollars grew 37% on just 22% more bookings, and home and garden spending jumped 46%, clear signs that households are stretching for experiences and improvements rather than pulling back. The question now is whether consumers can keep up with higher costs or whether they’ll start cutting back later this year," said Brian Walsh, Head of Advice and Planning at SoFi.

Saved cards were debit's fastest-growing payment method

Consumers made nearly two-thirds of Q1 debit purchases digitally, up from about 60% in Q4. Saved card payments, where consumers store their card credentials inside an app or merchant account, drove most of that growth:

• Saved cards grew from 20.7% of Q4 debit purchases to 24.0% in Q1, the largest shift of any payment method
• Saved card purchases averaged $61.23, about 65% higher than digital debit purchases where credentials aren't saved ($37.17 average)

February's subscription dip was a short reset, not a retreat

Every type of recurring payment dipped in February before recovering in March:

• Digital goods: -11.5% from January to February
• Subscription/continuity merchants: -8.8% from January to February
• Cable and pay TV: -7.9% from January to February
• Digital apps (Q4's fastest-growing recurring category): -3.9% from January to February, then +15.9% from February to March

Experience spending headed outside as soon as the weather warmed

Q4's experience economy was indoor and online: movie theaters surged +112.9% on holiday blockbusters, alongside online gambling and video arcades. Q1 went outside:

• Bicycle shops: +116.4% in spend
• Tourist attractions and exhibits: +60.6%
• Marinas and marine services: +37.6%

View the full Q1 2026 Galileo Debit Spend Index Research Report.

About the Galileo Debit Spend Index

The Galileo Debit Spend Index is based on anonymized, aggregated debit transaction data processed through the Galileo Financial Technologies platform. The Q1 2026 report covers transactions across 300+ Merchant Category Code (MCC) classifications during January, February, and March 2026. No individual cardholder data is identifiable. References to U.S. tax season timing and refund averages are sourced from public IRS filing season statistics released between January and March 2026.

About Galileo Financial Technologies

Galileo Financial Technologies is the financial technology provider connecting banks, fintechs and brands with innovative banking and processing capabilities to help people get their money right. This division of SoFi delivers modern digital solutions that are cloud-native, developer-friendly and regulation-ready, powering exceptional, customer-centric financial experiences across North and Latin America.

©2026 Galileo Financial Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. Galileo Financial Technologies, LLC is a technology company, not a bank. Galileo partners with many issuing banks to provide banking services in North and Latin America.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260528491701/en/

Media Contact:
Solomon Joseph
solomon@fletchergroupllc.com
905-510-1400

Source: Galileo Financial Technologies