Kiwis spending strongly during holiday season

Kiwis spending strongly during holiday season

January carried on where December’s spending left off, with an annual underlying Paymark growth rate of 6.0% - similar to the 5.9% average for 2015.

The holiday regions saw the fastest growth in the value of transactions with Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Marlborough and Otago all reporting solid numbers. This suggests the regions are benefitting from holiday patronage.

Chief Marketing Officer Tim McFarlane says the figures are in line with expectation for the summer months.

“After Christmas, spending is usually somewhat lower although January traditionally sees an increase in Accommodation.”

This year, Accommodation was up 30%, plus Food and Beverage services were up 24% and Entertainment (including movies) up 20%.

Figures from Southland, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay and Otago were also strong with growth in both credit card and debit card use. The Bay of Plenty in particular shows significant annual growth which suggests strong visitor numbers for January.

Recap for the year

The full last calendar year saw an overall growth in spending on the Paymark network of 5.9%. Auckland/Northland, Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Otago led growth with only the smaller regions of Taranaki and the West Coast declining slightly.

Paymark seamlessly switched a little over 1.106 billion transactions last year - roughly 60 transactions a second on average. 73% of these transactions were for debit cards and 27% for credit cards.

In value terms, $53.3 billion worth of goods and services were paid for through the Paymark network.

ENDS

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