Despite the growing number of consumers vowing to spend less on their credit cards this holiday season, one major credit card provider saw increased profits attributed by a rise in spending during this period.

According to American Express' latest regulatory filing, they earned a profit of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, which can be attributed to a significant increase in consumer spending as well as a rapid decline in operational costs.  The declines in costs are primarily related to defaulted accounts.  The reported profit was a forty-eight percent increase compared to the same period one year prior. 

American Express' U.S. Card Services division posted a seventy percent jump in net income from $413 million to $701 million a year later.  Again, the profits can be linked to increased consumer spending and a sixty-eight percent drop in provisions for losses due to improved credit quality across the company's portfolio. 

Even though most consumers said, they would use alternative methods of payment during this holiday season to avoid additional debt, most credit card companies saw an increase in profits due to a rise in consumer credit card transactions.