Electronic card spending increases

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the total Electronic Card Transaction (ECT) series increased 0.8 percent in August 2008 compared with July 2008, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The consumables and non-retail industries were the main contributors to this increase, which was partly offset by a decrease in the fuel retailing industry.

The trend for the total ECT series has been comparatively flat since February 2008, but has started to rise in recent months.

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the retail ECT series was 1.1 percent higher in August 2008 than in July 2008. The core retail ECT series (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) increased 1.7 percent in August following a 1.7 percent increase in July. Both increases were largely due to the increase in the consumables industry.

There were 85 million electronic transactions in August 2008 with a value of $4.6 billion.