Credit card use up

Credit card billings rose last month, pointing to a tentative improvement in consumer sentiment.

The Reserve Bank said total billings rose a seasonally adjusted 2.3 per cent last month, compared with a revised 2.8 per cent fall in March.

Billings were 1.6 per cent lower than a year earlier, after a 4.8 per cent fall in the year to March.

This month, data showed a third consecutive month's growth in electronic card retail sales in April.