Australians wrote just over eight million cheques in September - the second-lowest number ever recorded in the Reserve Bank's cheque payments data series.The number of cheques was down 7.2 per cent from the previous month and 23 per cent on the same time last year.The RBA's latest payments figures also show that credit and charge card users are paying off their balances at a significantly higher rate than they are spending.Consumers made purchases worth $25.3 billion in September - an average of A$1515 per account.They made repayments worth $26.9 billion - an average of $1612 per account.The value of balances accruing interest fell 1.5 per cent from $32.5 billion in August to $32 billion in September. The average balance accruing interest was $1916 in September.Consumers made purchases worth $21.1 billion on their debit cards in September - an average of $484 per account.