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- Consumer confidence levels may be dropping, but consumer spending doesn’t reflect it.
- That’s according to Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, speaking at Semafor’s World Economy Summit.
- “The consumer today is an empowered consumer that will still stick to what they want to do,” he said.
Consumer confidence has taken a hit amid economic uncertainty, but you wouldn’t know it based on current consumer spending figures at one major credit card.
Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said spending hasn’t noticeably changed yet in spite of growing anxieties about shifting tariffs, a possible recession, and the weakening dollar.
“The consumer today is an empowered consumer that will still stick to what they want to do,” Miebach said at Semafor’s 2025 World Economy Summit on Wednesday. “They still want to make that trip.”
Miebach said that while “soft data” like headlines and consumer confidence studies would suggest a pullback in consumer spending, there is currently no evidence of that in the real-time spending information that Mastercard monitors.
“The hard data is not reflecting yet where the consumer is,” he said.
In March, for example, he pointed out a 1.4% increase in consumer spending, which he said was “nothing out of the ordinary.”
“It’s the most asked question that I get and then when I say what I just said. People say there must be something more,” Miebach said about consumer spending. “But right now there is not.”
Consumer confidence registered at 92.9 in March, dropping to its lowest level since 2021, according to the Conference Board’s latest survey. Wall Street is keeping a watchful eye on consumer sentiment, as a weaker outlook on spending could put a dent in corporate earnings and impact the stock market.
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