Spending on credit and charge cards increased ahead of overall household spending over the past year but card users have their consumer debt under control, with balances accruing interest coming down.
According to the latest Reserve Bank payments data, balances accruing interest on credit and charge cards started climbing in 2022 and hit a peak of A$18.7 billion in October last year, before falling back to $18.2 billion in January – a fall of 2.7 per cent over three months.
Balances accruing interest on personal cards have come down from a peak of $17.8 billion in May last year to $17.6 billion in January, while balances accruing interest on commercial cards have come down from a peak of $863 million in April last year to $844 million in January.
The value of purchases on credit and charge cards was $34.9 billion in January – up from $34.3 billion in December and $33.1 billion in January last year.
Spending on personal cards was $26.8 billion and spending on commercial cards was $8.2 billion.
Account holders repaid more than they spent - $35 billion in January.
The value of spending on personal cards rose 4.3 per cent over the 12 months to January, compared with an overall increase of 3 per cent in household spending over that period (according to the ABS).
While the growth in card spending has outpaced the growth in household spending, the reduction in balances accruing interest indicates there is no blowout in household budgets.