Black Friday card transactions increased significantly

Consumers continue to feel better about their finances, and when combined with seasonal increases in spending brought on by the holidays, that leads more Americans to take on credit card debt.

Consumer use of debit and credit cards to pay for purchases on Black Friday increased significantly on a year-over-year, according to data from First Data's SpendTrend analysis of Black Friday sales figures. In all, the number of transactions using these accounts jumped 7.3 percent over last year's totals, and the value of those purchases rose 6.3 percent. The latter fact may have come as a surprise to experts, as there was a significant increase in purchases seen last year as well.

The holiday gift purchasing continued throughout the weekend as well, as consumers took advantage of the deals offered by online retailers as part of Cyber Monday promotions, the report said. In all, dollar volume on ecommerce purchases made throughout the weekend surged nearly 20 percent over last year's totals.

Consumers tend to make more purchases using their credit cards during the holiday season, which will make it harder for them to reduce debt for some time. There are typically seasonal increases in credit card delinquency seen near the end of the year.