Turning to the plastic

Laine Gordon

07 Jun, 2023

Fact Checked

RBA credit card data has revealed Australians are turning to the plastic at levels not seen since August 2021, with total credit card debt accruing interest hitting $17.76 billion in April.

Debt accruing interest is up $27 million from March, and 2.5 per cent higher than April 2022.

Credit card statistics: personal credit cards in April 2023

Highest since Aug 2021

+0.2%

+2.5%

+0.1%

+1.4%

Source: RBA, released 7 June 2023, original data, excludes commercial cards. Monthly change is Mar 2023 to Apr 2023, year-on-year change is Apr 2022 to Apr 2023.

Source: RBA. Note: graph begins at $15 billion.

Value of spending increases, but total number of transactions decline

The value of transactions increased in April, with over $73 billion spent across both credit and debit cards - a 0.6 per cent increase since March, and a 10 percent rise compared to the same time a year ago.

However the total number of transactions is 9 per cent lower compared to April 2022.

Total value of transactions: credit and debit cards in April 2023

Source: RBA, released 7 June 2023, seasonally adjusted data, excludes commercial cards. Monthly change is Mar 2023 to Apr 2023, year-on-year change is Apr 2022 to Apr 2023.

Total number of transactions: credit and debit cards in April 2023

Source: RBA, released 7 June 2023, seasonally adjusted data, excludes commercial cards. Monthly change is Mar 2023 to Apr 2023, year-on-year change is Apr 2022 to Apr 2023.

RateCity.com.au research director, Sally Tindall, said: "Some Australians are reaching for the plastic to keep themselves afloat amidst a sea of rate hikes."

"As some households are doing everything they can to keep themselves out of the red, others aren't thinking twice when they hit the shops," she said.

"If your credit card is your plan B, then it's time to come up with a better solution. While it's a quick fix now, with an average interest rate of 17.71 per cent, things can turn very ugly if you can't clear that debt in full," she said.

Solutions for managing credit card debt

Did you find this helpful? Why not share this news?

Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Research Director Sally Tindall before it was published as part of RateCity's Fact Check process.

Laine Gordon

Head Of Public Relations

Laine Gordon is the Head of Public Relations at RateCity and an experienced journalist and research specialist. With a background in news and feature writing, covering finance, media and even food (a passion of hers) at Reed Elsevier publications, Laine brings almost two decades of experience to the team. Having covered major areas of interest to the general public from hip pocket issues to rising and falling interest rates and the impact to mortgages, credit and saving in Australia, she is passionate about researching and telling people's stories to help others make better decisions about their own finances.