Hispanic more likely to Shop Online for Back-to-School.

18-24 year old consumers are twice as likely to do their back-to-school shopping online as compared to the overall consumer average of 12 percent. Hispanic consumers also responded above average with 20 percent indicating they will shop online this year for back-to-school purchases. This is according to the eBillme Online Spending Index, a quarterly survey examining consumer spending trends online. The survey is conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research and released quarterly by eBillme, the payment option that enables consumers and small businesses to use online banking to pay now, pay securely and use available funds.

The eBillme Online Spending Index polls 1,200 consumers to measure projected online spending for the quarter and the influencing factors including the economy, security, and financial control. Overall consumer spending online for Q3 is projected to decrease by 11 percent to an average of $227 compared to an average of $255 last quarter and $346 during last year’s Q3.

“This quarter’s Index shows signs that the recessions is still impacting consumer spending and payment decisions,” says Bruce Cundiff, Director of Payments Research and Consulting for Javelin Strategy & Research. “Our findings show that 57 percent of consumers plan to delay purchases because of uncertainty in the economy. This is an almost 10 percent increase from this time last year. Consumer spending remains cautious and despite new legislation to help protect the consumer from changes in their credit card policies, sentiment towards credit card usage has further declined. Consumer confidence will need to show signs of improvement before there can be a bounce back in spending.”

Consumer sentiment towards credit card spending shows significant decline this quarter. 33 percent of consumers anticipate their credit card usage will decline over the next 90 days, an increase from 25 percent in Q3 2008. Exactly half of all consumers plan to permanently reduce their use of credit cards because of changes in the economy and the new credit card legislation.

“There is a visible shift in credit card usage as compared to Q3 2008,” says Marwan Forzley, President and CEO of eBillme. “It is clear that consumers have changed their spending habits and the recession continues to play a dominate role in financial decisions. We continue to see evidence of more cash spending on our merchant sites and expect that spending and lifestyle changes will extend far beyond these economic conditions.”

For more information at http://www.eBillme.com