Non-retail industries drive electronic card spending increase

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of the total Electronic Card Transaction (ECT) series increased 0.8 percent in September 2008 compared with August 2008, Statistics New Zealand said today. The non-retail industries were the main contributor to this increase, which was dampened by a flat retail result.

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

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of the retail ECT series in September 2008 was unchanged from August 2008. Increases in the motor vehicle-related industries and consumables were negated by the decreases in apparel and durables.The core retail ECT series (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) decreased 0.4 percent in September following a 1.6 percent increase in August.

There were 84 million electronic transactions in September 2008 with a value of $4.5 billion.