Digital Debit Card Use Surged in the First Quarter, a Galileo Report Finds

Consumers turned to debit cards in increasing numbers in the first quarter, finds the inaugural Galileo Debit Spend Index.

Released Thursday, the report found that consumer use of debit cards at both fast food and sit-down restaurants increased more than 18% in the quarter, a reversal of a downward trend in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Consumers also put their debit cards to work as saved-cards, or card-on-file, use increased three times faster than their use in tap-to-pay transactions, Galileo says. Saved-cards use increased to 24% [OF TRANSACTIONS?] in the first quarter, up from 20.7% in the fourth quarter. The average ticket for saved-card purchases, at $61.23, was approximately 65% higher than the average ticket of $37.17 when credentials were not saved.

Consumers also increased their use of debit cards in travel, a segment often viewed as credit-card heavy, with hotel spend increasing 38.1%, airline spending up 36%, and travel agency spending up 42.5%.

“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,” Brian Walsh, SoFi head of advice and planning, says in a statement. Issuing platform Galileo soon will be renamed SoFi Technology Solutions, it says. SoFi acquired Galileo in 2020 for $1.2 billion.

Galileo also found that subscription payments made with debit cards recovered in March following a dip in February. Digital goods recurring payments dipped 11.5% from January to February, with cable and pay-TV transactions down 7.9% for the same period.

Debit cards, along with credit cards, have eaten into cash use, according to the 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice report by Federal Reserve Financial Services. In 2016, the first year for the payments diary, a consumer conducted on average 12 debit card transactions and eight credit card transactions a month. In 2025, they made 15 debit and 16 credit card payments.

The Galileo Debit Spend Index is based on anonymized, aggregated debit transaction data processed through the Galileo platform and covers more than 300 merchant category codes.