Credit card spending rockets

Credit card spending hit an all-time high last year with New Zealanders slapping $21.6 billion on the plastic.

With the increased spending comes a record level in credit card debt.

New Zealanders owed $4.1 billion at the end of last year - the first time the outstanding balance has broken above $4 billion as spending outpaced repayments, says CardWatch (a division of investment researchers FundSource).

"That's $1000 owed for every man, woman and child in the country," said CardWatch general manager Tim Anderson,

It also means New Zealanders paid over $490 million in credit card interest over the 12 months.

Last year's $21.6 billion annual spend was 11.5 per cent higher than 2003's $19.3 billion and up 21.2 per cent from 2002's $17.8 billion.

Given recent reports from retailers telling of a softening in retail sales last month, increases in credit card expenditure suggested New Zealanders were opting for plastic as their preferred form of payment, Anderson said.

The figures for December show billings rose to $2.19 billion for the month - 6 per cent higher than the previous December and 25 per cent higher than the monthly average for the other 11 months of the year.

Anderson said the December spend would have earned the equivalent of 14.6 million Air NZ dollars using GlobalPlus, or 73,000 trans Tasman flights or 77,000 toasters.

The CardWatch research is based on raw data from the Reserve Bank.