Related to this, electronic payment data from credit cards and cash withdrawals from ATMs have been shown to help forecast private consumption as well as GDP growth, provided that they are made available in a timely manner. 20 These data are also less prone to revision than traditional national accounts data.
Our internal findings so far suggest that, in some euro area countries, the correlation between payment data and private consumption is encouragingly strong, making their systematic use in forecasting an option for policymakers. Technological progress in exploiting textual information can provide similar benefits.