Credit, debit card transactions plunge

The total value of credit and charge card transactions fell by their biggest for a January in five years, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) figures released on Friday show.

Australians spent $17.18 billion on their credit and charge cards, including advances, a fall of 22 per cent compared to $22.02 billion in December, according to the figures which are not seasonally adjusted.

Transactions typically decline in January after the Christmas rush in December, however this was the biggest monthly fall since January 2005.

Total credit and charge card balances outstanding declined by 1.6 per cent to $46.152 billion from $46.912 billion.

Balances outstanding rose by five per cent over the past 12 months, compared with an average annual increase of 11 per cent for the preceding five years.

The average credit card account balance decreased by 1.9 per cent to $3,188.87 in January from $3,250.44 December.

The average credit card account balance in January was 2.9 per cent higher than a year earlier, compared with average annual growth of 5.5 per cent over the five years to January 2009.

Credit and charge card repayments fell by 13.6 per cent to $18.593 billion in January from $21.532 billion in December.

Repayments in January were up by 2.8 per cent from a year before, compared with an average annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent over the preceding five years.

By value, credit card purchases decreased by 22.5 per cent to $16.322 billion in January from $21.072 billion in December but rose by 4.4 per cent over the year to January.

The value of cash advances on credit and charge cards fell by 9.8 per cent to $855 million in January from $948 million in December and were down by 12.8 per cent from $980 million in January 2009.

The number of EFTPOS transactions, including both purchases and cash-outs, fell to 173.492 million worth $11.430 billion in January , from 202.452 million worth $14.098 billion in the previous month.

EFTPOS transactions rose by 9.3 per cent by value from 12 months earlier, compared with an previous five-year average of 12.5 per cent annually.