Credit card usage increases in September: RBA

20 November 2009

Australians have begun turning to their credit cards again with credit cards usage rising for the month of September, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, with EFTPOS usage actually declining.

The overall credit cards market in Australia received a boost in activity in September, two per cent in fact, with credit and charge card transactions total monthly value rising to $19.2 billion, up from $18.8 billion in August. The different measure points applied by the RBA all posted changes with both the repayments figures and new charges and figures amounts all showing change for the month of September.

When it came to credit cards and charge cards purchases the total amount charged was $18.2 billion in September, an increase of 1.9 per cent from $17.9 billion in August.
In terms of credit and charge accounts numbers, or the actual number of charges, remained fairly even with 14.35 million purchases using credit cards.

When considering business credit, this declined for the second consecutive month with a slip of 1.3 per cent over September 2009, with a decline of 0.7 per cent over August. Overall for the year leading to September the amount business credit declined by 4.6 per cent.

Cash Advances

The amount of actual cash advance charges made onto credit cards and charge cards increased by 4.1 per cent with the cash amount or value of these advances increased by 0.7 per cent to $2.44 million.

EFTPOS

The number of EFTPOS purchases made Australia-wide in September declined from $11.88 billion in August to $11.65 billion, which equates to around two per cent. While the number of actual purchases made did decline, the monetary value attached to these EFTPOS purchases rose 12.1 per cent from September 2008.

Credit Cards Repayments

Australians increased the amount repaid on their credit cards to $19.6 billion, an increase of 3.5 per cent, taking the total amount owed through credit cards and charge cards to $45.1 billion.

When comparing August and September 2009 in terms of actual balances accruing interest, the amount had fallen from $32.48 billion to $32.43 billion respectively.
For the twelve months leading to September 2009, total repayments for credit cards declined 0.3 per cent.

CreditCards.com.au is an Australian owned information provider on Australian credit card products. Please use our Compare Credit Cards table to find the right credit card for your financial needs.

We cover a wide range of credit card services provided by credit card companies through the banking and financial sector.

Back to News Index | Back to Home