Value of card transactions rose: RBA

Consumers spent $20.004 billion on credit and charge cards in the month, from $19.189 billion in October, non-seasonally adjusted figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) figures show.

The monthly increase was 4.2 per cent, while the rise from a year earlier was 13.5 per cent.

The average credit card account balance was $3,196 in November, up by 1.8 per cent from $3,141 in October.

Growth in average balances over the year was 1.7 per cent, compared with an average annual rise of 5.8 per cent over the preceding five years.

Commsec chief economist Craig James said the improvement in economic conditions and the sharp rise in consumer sentiment was starting to filter through to credit card usage.

"The average credit card balance has jumped in November to be up 1.7 per cent on a year earlier marking the strongest growth rate in 11 months," Mr Sebastian said.

"No doubt the sustained improvement in labour market conditions and rising wealth levels is giving consumers more confidence to use plastic."

He said an improvement in retail sales had showed up in the debit card statistics and now the result was filtering through to credit card statistics.

He forecast credit card growth would track around current levels until the economic recovery gained traction.

The RBA figures showed the total amount owed on cards in November was $46.048 billion, a 2.0 per cent rise from October's $45.153 billion, the strongest monthly growth in total credit and charge card balances since February 2008.

Strong monthly growth is often recorded in November.

The figures show the average growth for November over the past decade was 2.1 per cent, however the rise between October and November 2008, in the midst of the global credit crisis, was only 1.2 per cent.

The credit card figures, released on Thursday, showed that while Australian shoppers were putting more on the plastic, the pace at which they were topping up their accounts slowed in November.

Repayments on credit cards fell 0.6 per cent in November to $19.530 billion.

But the November result went against the yearly trend of total credit card repayments rising 11.2 per cent.

The country's appetite for quick credit grew, but the rate of increase slowed in the year, with the number of credit and charge accounts growing 0.2 per cent in November and by 1.3 per cent over the year to 14.406 million.

In the preceding five years the average annual growth rate was over four times faster, at 5.7 per cent.

The desire to carry around cash in the lead up to Christmas subsided.

The value of cash advances on credit and charge cards fell by 2.3 per cent to $954 million in November from $977 million in October and $1.028 billion in November 2008.

Meanwhile, total EFTPOS purchases, including cashouts, fell to $11.898 billion in November, from $12.078 billion in the previous month, a decrease of 1.5 per cent.

Despite the fall in November, the value of EFTPOS purchases was up 14.4 per cent in the 12 months to November.

The figures also showed credit card balances accruing interest rose to $33.070 billion in November, from $32.385 billion the previous month.

Source: Ninemsn