(16 October 2012 – Australia) Over the past year, the number of credit card accounts in Australia has risen by just 1 percent and the average balance has barely moved.In stark contrast, the number of debit cards has grown by 5.7 percent, as shoppers rely more on their own money to fund spending, according to figures published last week by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
The value of national credit debt fell by 1 percent in August to A$49.2 billion, the lowest level since January.
The nation’s credit card debt has now been declining since June, after it eclipsed A$50 billion for the first time in February this year.
In the past five years the amount of credit card debt outstanding has risen by almost 20 percent.
Even during the global financial crisis, credit card spending continued to grow quickly. In the 2008 calendar year, in which Lehman Brothers collapsed, credit card spending was up more than 5 percent, followed by growth of more than 6 percent in 2009.