Debit and credit card spending 'remains slow'

Debit and credit card spending 'remains slow'

Credit and debit card spending across Australia was sluggish last month, according to the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator.

The debit and credit card spending in Australia was slow in October, a report has revealed.

According to the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) - which tracks the value of Aussie credit and debit transactions from the financial organisation's point of sale terminals - in trend terms the rate was unchanged last month.

This is in contrast to September when there was a 0.2 per cent hike and August when the levels increased by 0.1 per cent - the first positive reading since November 2009.

Matt Comyn, executive general manager of local business banking at the institution - which offers Commonwealth Bank credit cards - said spending remained at lower levels in some parts of the economy.

He added: "At face value, the fact that the BSI remained unchanged in October appears encouraging, especially given that the BSI had previously fallen for ten straight months leading up to August.

"The overall fundamentals for the Australian economy remain strong leading into the end of the year which is good news for businesses and retailers also have the busy Christmas season to look forward to."

What's more, the business sector was the strongest performer last month as it rose 1.1 per cent, while personal services providers - which has an annual growth of 8.1 per cent - was up one per cent in October.

However, there was negative news for mail order and telephone order providers as they continued to decline, down by two per cent.

But Craig James, chief economist of the bank's broking subsidiary CommSec and author of the BSI, noted there were some shining lights in the economy.

Spending in the northern territory rose by 1.1 per cent and there were gains for western Australia, up 0.5 per cent, meaning they are the two strongest performers in annual terms.

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