Trend in retail electronic card spending flat

The trend in the Retail Electronic Card Transaction (ECT) series has flattened since December 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The seasonally adjusted value of the retail ECT series was down 0.3 percent in April 2008.

The motor vehicle-related industry increased in April, due to higher fuel prices, but was offset by falls in the consumables, durables and hospitality industries.

The seasonally adjusted value of the core retail ECT series, which excludes the motor vehicle related industry, was down 0.9 percent in April 2008.

The seasonally adjusted value of the total ECT series was 1.4 percent higher in April 2008 following a 1.0 decrease in March.

The trend in total ECT has slowed since December 2007.

Easter generally falls in April but occasionally occurs in March, as it did this year.

The timing of Easter may have contributed to the movements in the total ECT series in March and April.

This impact was most likely in the non-retail component of electronic card transactions.

In April 2008, there were 83 million electronic transactions totalling $4.5 billion.

The Electronic Card Transaction series measures the number and value of debit, credit and charge card transactions with New Zealand-based merchants.

It is a census of all card transactions processed within New Zealand.

Transactions by overseas card-holders in New Zealand are included; transactions by New Zealand card-holders overseas are excluded.

The data is released as an experimental series and Statistics NZ acknowledges the cooperation of the private sector in providing the data for publication.