Mastercard's Love Index, published on February 12, 2020, reported a 17% rise in Valentine's-period spending across the study's three-year comparison. It analyzed credit, debit and prepaid card transactions in 53 territories during February 11–14 in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Experience-related spending grew faster than several traditional gift categories. Hotel bookings increased 22% and flights 13%, while spending on flowers rose 3% and jewelry 6%. Mastercard linked the pattern to consumers choosing shared activities over physical presents.

The report also recorded a 57% increase in online transactions during the measured Valentine's periods. Among offline purchases, the share involving contactless payments rose 175%, illustrating changes in how shoppers completed their gift and experience purchases.

Buying also moved earlier in the period: the busiest day was February 11 in 2019, compared with February 12 in 2018 and February 13 in 2017. The figures describe those historical dates and should not be read as results for Valentine's Day 2020.