Morning Briefing: Aussie credit card debt 'well contained'

When it comes to credit card debt, Australians appear to be a savvy bunch, the latest RBA figures reveal...

Morning Briefing: Aussie credit card debt 'well contained'
Aussie credit card debt 'well contained'
When it comes to credit card debt, Australians appear to be a savvy bunch, figures from the Reserve Bank show.

The average Aussie with a credit card has around $3,100 in outstanding purchases on their card. And the average balance was even lower in late 2016 at $3,070.  

The average balance for credit cards hasn't been this low in almost nine years, since late 2007.

"Not surprisingly, more of us are choosing to pay off our purchases by the due date, a practice common across major economies – influenced by the low inflation/low interest rate regime and the former global financial crisis," a CommSec report stated.

"What is interesting, is that consumers are still actively using credit and debit cards, paying off outstanding debt promptly, but the value per transaction continues to fall."
 
According to the data, November saw an average of 13.4 transactions on each credit card account, up from 12.7 a year ago but the average value of a transaction has fallen to a 14-year low.