Online payments more popular than shopping

07/02/2011

Shoppers are not flocking to the internet to pick up tax free bargains from offshore. The RBA said that, since 2005, the value of online spending on debit and credit cards increased at an average annual rate of more than 15 per cent. The RBA noted though that over the past year there has been little change in this kind of spending (the year in which the Australian dollar achieved “parity” with the US dollar). 

Online payments account for around 10 per cent of total domestic payments on credit and debit cards, the RBA said. International electronic purchases on credit cards and debit cards had increased at an average rate of 15.5 per cent since 2005, roughly half as fast again as the rate of growth in electronic domestic purchases. However, most of this payments’ growth reflects the corresponding growth in offshore travel over the last five years.

The RBA wrote that while “it is not possible to specifically identify online offshore purchases, the data suggest that the share of this type of purchase in total spending remains relatively low.
Banking Day