CBA to track merchant sales
(2 December 2009 – Australia) A new economic indicator released by the Commonwealth Bank will give key insight into a variety of business sales.
The bank will be tracking the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through the bank’s 200,000 merchant facilities; these account for around 30 to 40 percent of all merchant terminals and payment gateways nationwide.
CBA will track the sales in a number of sectors, including airlines, repair services, transportation and utilities, entertainment, hotels and motels.
Craig James, chief equities economist, CBA, said that the figures should provide a monthly snapshot of spending in the economy and may be of interest to the Reserve Bank in its interest rate deliberations.
Mr James added that the Reserve Bank has only over the last couple of years created a closer liaison with retailers and business about their trends.
This could be partly the reason why their retail trade figures have jumped around month to month, Mr James highlighted.
Mr James also said that he thinks the Reserve Bank has been a little bit ‘dated’ in terms of figures.
In the first release of the data, the bank has said that it indicates consumer consumption has picked up from a small dip late last year.
Although, the report also shows that in recent months spending has decrease slightly as the government stimulus payments were spent.
CBA will track the sales in a number of sectors, including airlines, repair services, transportation and utilities, entertainment, hotels and motels.
Craig James, chief equities economist, CBA, said that the figures should provide a monthly snapshot of spending in the economy and may be of interest to the Reserve Bank in its interest rate deliberations.
Mr James added that the Reserve Bank has only over the last couple of years created a closer liaison with retailers and business about their trends.
This could be partly the reason why their retail trade figures have jumped around month to month, Mr James highlighted.
Mr James also said that he thinks the Reserve Bank has been a little bit ‘dated’ in terms of figures.
In the first release of the data, the bank has said that it indicates consumer consumption has picked up from a small dip late last year.
Although, the report also shows that in recent months spending has decrease slightly as the government stimulus payments were spent.
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