Credit card purchases continued to climb in February

Consumers may now be feeling better about their financial standing and feel they're in a improved position to once again handle credit card debt, because the number of transactions on their cards are increasing significantly.

Both Visa and MasterCard, the world's two largest processors of credit and debit card transactions, announced that they've seen the number and value of credit purchases rising recently, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires. For Visa's part, it saw the total number of U.S. credit and debit transactions it processed in February rise 6 percent on a year-over-year basis, with credit purchases rising 11 percent and debit transactions climbing 4 percent.

And during the first two months of the year, MasterCard has seen even more significant increases in card use, the report said. The world's second-biggest payment processor saw U.S. transaction volumes increase 26 percent overall in January and February, while the value of those purchases climbed 14 percent.

Rising credit card purchase values may make it more difficult for consumers to reduce debt down the road, but with the economic recovery fully under way, many may feel more capable of handling those concerns.