Australians Spend More On Charge And Credit Cards In May

Spending by Australians on charge and credit cards including advances increased in May according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, who said $19.631 billion was spent during the month.

The amount spent in May on charge and credit cards rose from $17.960 billion in April, whilst the number of transactions was slight higher to, at 131.035 million in May, up from 123.289 million in April.

The figures have yet to be adjusted for seasonality.

The value of transactions for the 12 months between May 2009 and May 2010 rose 10.5 per cent, which is far higher than the average growth rate of the previous five years of 6.8 per cent.

Total credit and charge card balances outstanding rose to $47.430 billion in May from $47.126 billion in April.

Compare with a year earlier, the total value of charge and credit card balances outstanding increased by 7.1 per cent, and represents a smaller rise than the average annual growth rate of 10.2 per cent in the previous half decade.

The average balance held by Australians on charge and credit cards rose by 5 per cent to $3,248 in May, for $3,092 a year earlier, and that increase was largely with the average annual growth rate of 4.9 per cent during the five years to May 2009.

Credit and charge card repayments rose to $19.833 billion in May from $18.806 billion in April.

Repayments improved with the annual rate at 10.2 per cent, compared with an average of 7.3 per cent in the preceding half decade.

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