Credit- charge card transactions fall

The total value of credit and charge card transactions, including advances, fell in January, new figures show.

Australians spent $16.622 billion on their credit and charge cards in January, compared with $21.043 billion in December, a fall of 21 per cent, figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) show on Thursday.

The number of purchases using credit cards fell by 22.1 per cent.

The value of cash advances on credit and charge cards declined by 10 per cent to $981 million in January, from $1.090 billion in the previous month.

The value of credit card repayments fell by 15.76 per cent.

Total credit and charge card balances outstanding was down 1.53 per cent in January to $44.646 billion, from $45.338 billion the previous month.

Balances accruing interest fell to $32.957 billion, from $33.077 billion.

Total credit and charge card balances outstanding have risen by 5.45 per cent over the past 12 months.

The number of credit and charge accounts decreased by 0.3 per cent in January.