Australia Debit Growth Aussome!

Visa and Mastercard Debit cards Taking Charge in AU 24 August 2009 Strong Leap Over Same Period Last Year Consumers put a little more on their credit cards in June but the long term trend continues to be for shoppers to cut back on their use of credit. The latest credit card data from the Reserve Bank, published yesterday, shows that the average card balance rose from $3,094 in May to $3,127 in June but that June figure is down 0.2 per cent on a year ago. The big news is the growth in debit, particularly Visa and Mastercard debit cards. The value of purchases made on debit cards in June was 40 per cent higher than in the same period last year. Debit now makes up 35.8 per cent of card payments in Australia.  According to MWE Consulting, debit accounts are increasing at more than twice the rate of credit and charge accounts. “Scheme debit has increased from a 21.3 per cent share of the value of debit purchases in March 2008, when data commenced, to 26.7 in June this year. Share rose 24 per cent over the past 12 months and the trend shows no signs of abating.”

Source : The Sheet