Summary of usage of payments systems - annual

In 2009, a total of 6.7 billion transactions were conducted using ATMs, EFTPOS, Cheque, Direct Entry and Credit cards with a value of $13.9 trillion.  That’s, on average, 129 million transactions every week with a value of $267 billion. 

Direct entry, which consists of credit transfer payments and debit transfer payments, is the largest of the payment systems with 2.3 billion transactions in 2009 at a value of $11.9 trillion.

Summary of usage of payments systems per day

In 2009 there were, on average, over 18 million transactions every day: 

• 2.3 million ATM withdrawals at a value of $415 million
• 4.8 million EFTPOS transactions at a value of $336 million
• 0.9 million cheques issued at a value of $4.1 billion
• 6.2 million direct entry transactions at a value of $32.6 billion
• 4.1 million credit card transactions at a value of $619 million

Credit cards

In 2009, there were 1.51 billion credit card transactions with a total value of $225.8 billion.  Over the past year, the number of transactions grew by 3.9% while the value of transactions grew by 2.5% (the lowest growth rate on record - since 1989). 

In 2009, there were 29.9 million cash advances with a total value of $11.4 billion.   The number of cash advances is now at the lowest level since mid-1998.  

Cash advances made up 2.0% of the number all credit card transactions and 98.0% of the value of credit card transactions in 2009. 

At the end of 2009, there were 14.4 million credit card accounts, increasing by only 1.5% over the past year.

The following table shows the percentage changes over the previous year.  Growth rates across a range of credit card statistics have fallen significantly over the past two years (2008 and 2009).

Growth rates presented in the charts below show annual changes. That is, each of the ‘grey bars’ shows the growth rate over the past 12 months.

Credit cards – per card statistics

This section presents data on a ‘per card’ basis.   As such, it adjusts for changes in the number of credit card accounts over time.  That is, if we look at the statistics presented above, we may see a 10% rise in the use of credit cards, but, this may be because the number of accounts has increased by 10%, not because people are using their cards 10% more.  This, of course, is a simple explanation but it will assist readers in understanding why it is important to also focus on ‘per card’ statistics when analysing credit card statistics.

In 2009, credit card customers made $15,644 of transactions on average using their credit cards, an increase of 1.1% or $164 more than the previous year.  This increase is less than the CPI increase of 2.1% for 2009.

Cash advances fell by a large 12.7% in 2009.  That is, customers made a total of $793 per card of cash advances in 2009 compared with $908 in 2008.  In 2001, cash advances per card were $1,051 or a third (33%) more than 2009.  

Of the $15,644 of transactions per credit card in 2009, $793 or 5% were cash advances while $14,851 or 95% were purchases.  In 2000, 12% of the value of transactions on a credit card were cash advances.

On average over 2009, customers made 104.7 transactions using their credit card with an average value of $149 per transaction.  The average value of a transaction fell by $2 or 1.3% over the past year. 

In 2009, there were 2.1 cash advance transactions per credit card account with an average value of $383 for each cash advance transaction and 102.6 purchases with an average value of $145 for each.

The number of cash advances per card has been falling for the past eight years.

ATM withdrawals

Over 2009, there were 843.2 million ATM withdrawals with a total value of $151.5 billion. 

In 2009, the number of ATM withdrawals fell by 2.6% while the total value did not change.  This is the first time that the number of ATM withdrawals has fallen (the data series commenced in 1994).

The fall in ATM usage was driven by a fall in the use of foreign ATMs of 16% to 342 million withdrawals.   That is, there were 65 million fewer transactions (16%) at foreign ATMs in 2009 when compared with 2008.  This is the first fall in the number of ATM withdrawals conducted at foreign ATMs over the seven years of data available.  

Note that foreign ATMs are ATMs which are owned by another financial institution not the customers financial institution. 

ATM withdrawals at own ATM (i.e. where the ATM is owned by the customers own financial institution) increased relatively strongly by 9.3%.

In 2009, customers conducted 59.4% of their ATM withdrawals at an ATM of their own institution making up 65.1% of the total amount withdrawn at ATMs.  That is, almost two-thirds of money withdrawn at an ATM is at the customers own financial institution.

In 2009, the average value of an ATM withdrawal was $180.  For withdrawals made at an ATM owned by the customers’ financial institution, the average withdrawal was $197 a fall of $2 over the previous year.  For withdrawals from a foreign ATM, the average value increased from $149 to $154 over the past year.

Cheques

A total of 333 million cheques were issued in 2009 with a value of $1.5 trillion.  This is a fall of 38 million or 10.2% in the number of cheques and a fall of $117 billion or 7.2% in the value of cheques written over the past year. 

Customer cheques made up the bulk of cheques written in 2009, being 95% of the number of cheques and 67% of the value of cheques.

Cheques	Customer		Financial institution		Total
	Number	Value	Number	Value	Number	Value
	million	$billion	million	$billion	million	$billion
2002	582.6	$1,685.8	17.7	$357.8	600.4	$2,043.6
2003	556.9	$1,600.0	17.6	$409.7	574.4	$2,009.7
2004	511.6	$1,375.5	16.0	$392.1	527.6	$1,767.7
2005	469.0	$1,272.1	14.6	$392.5	483.7	$1,664.6
2006	434.4	$1,269.0	15.5	$424.5	449.9	$1,693.5
2007	397.6	$1,296.7	20.5	$542.7	418.1	$1,839.5
2008	352.8	$1,128.2	18.2	$489.0	371.0	$1,617.2
2009	316.4	$1,000.6	16.7	$499.7	333.0	$1,500.2

Source: RBA

%change	Customer		Financial institution		Total
	Number	Value	Number	Value	Number	Value
2003	- 4.4%	- 5.1%	- 1.1%	14.5%	- 4.3%	- 1.7%
2004	- 8.1%	- 14.0%	- 8.7%	- 4.3%	- 8.1%	- 12.0%
2005	- 8.3%	- 7.5%	- 8.7%	0.1%	- 8.3%	- 5.8%
2006	- 7.4%	- 0.2%	5.8%	8.1%	- 7.0%	1.7%
2007	- 8.5%	2.2%	32.8%	27.9%	- 7.1%	8.6%
2008	- 11.3%	- 13.0%	- 11.5%	- 9.9%	- 11.3%	- 12.1%
2009	- 10.3%	- 11.3%	- 8.4%	2.2%	- 10.2%	- 7.2%

In 2009, the average value of a cheque was $4,505 with the average customer cheque being $3,163 ($35 less than the previous year) and the average financial institution cheque being $30,005 ($3,122 more than the previous year).

EFTPOS

A total of 2.0 billion EFTPOS transactions were made in 2009 with a value of $137.5 billion.  There were 1.76 billion purchase only transactions, 225.2 million combined transactions (i.e. purchase and cash-out) and 15.7 million cash-out only transactions.

	Purchases		Combined transactions			Cash-out only		Total
	Number	Value	Purchase component		Cash- out	Number	Value	Number	Value
	million	$bn	million	$bn	$bn	million	$bn	million	$bn
2003	806.8	$49.0	173.4	$7.1	$9.6	17.6	$1.3	997.8	$67.0
2004	900.7	$56.0	179.6	$7.5	$9.9	16.2	$1.2	1,096.5	$74.7
2005	1,020.9	$64.0	186.8	$8.0	$10.4	15.0	$1.2	1,222.7	$83.6
2006	1,146.7	$72.8	191.4	$8.4	$10.7	14.0	$1.1	1,352.1	$93.1
2007	1,307.7	$83.8	197.3	$8.5	$11.1	14.9	$1.3	1,519.9	$104.6
2008	1,534.9	$99.3	205.8	$9.2	$11.6	15.8	$1.4	1,756.4	$121.6
2009	1,760.3	$113.1	225.2	$10.2	$12.9	15.7	$1.3	2,001.2	$137.5

Source: RBA

There were 245 million or 13.9% more EFTPOS transactions and $15.9 billion or 13.1% more in the value of EFTPOS transactions compared with the previous year, continuing the strong growth rates seen for this payment channel since data were collected.

Purchases which included a cash-out component grew at the strongest rate on record (the data series dates back to 2003) with the growth rate for the number of such transactions (9.4%), in 2009, being over double that for any year before.

	Purchases		Combined transactions			Cash-out only		Total
			Purchase component		Cash- out
	Number	Value	Number	Value	Value	Number	Value	Number	Value
2004	11.6%	14.3%	3.6%	5.5%	3.4%	- 7.8%	- 2.5%	9.9%	11.5%
2005	13.3%	14.4%	4.0%	5.7%	4.5%	- 7.3%	- 3.0%	11.5%	11.9%
2006	12.3%	13.7%	2.5%	5.7%	3.6%	- 6.6%	- 5.2%	10.6%	11.4%
2007	14.0%	15.0%	3.1%	1.4%	3.0%	6.2%	13.1%	12.4%	12.4%
2008	17.4%	18.5%	4.3%	8.0%	5.2%	6.0%	13.0%	15.6%	16.2%
2009	14.7%	13.9%	9.4%	10.8%	10.8%	- 0.5%	- 8.1%	13.9%	13.1%

The vast majority of EFTPOS transactions are purchases only.  In 2009, 88.0% of EFTPOS transactions were purchases only, making up 82.2% of the value of all EFTPOS transactions.  Over time, the proportion of EFTPOS transactions which are purchase only transactions has been growing.  

In 2009, 11.3% of EFTPOS transactions were combined purchases and cash-out, making up 16.8% of the value of EFTPOS transactions, while the remaining 0.8% of transactions were cash-out only.

	Purchases		Combined transactions			Cash-out only		Total
			Purchase component		Cash- out
	Number	Value	Number	Value	Value	Number	Value	Number	Value
2003	80.9%	73.1%	17.4%	10.7%	14.3%	1.8%	1.9%	100.0%	100.0%
2004	82.1%	75.0%	16.4%	10.1%	13.3%	1.5%	1.6%	100.0%	100.0%
2005	83.5%	76.6%	15.3%	9.5%	12.4%	1.2%	1.4%	100.0%	100.0%
2006	84.8%	78.2%	14.2%	9.0%	11.5%	1.0%	1.2%	100.0%	100.0%
2007	86.0%	80.0%	13.0%	8.2%	10.6%	1.0%	1.2%	100.0%	100.0%
2008	87.4%	81.7%	11.7%	7.6%	9.6%	0.9%	1.2%	100.0%	100.0%
2009	88.0%	82.2%	11.3%	7.4%	9.4%	0.8%	1.0%	100.0%	100.0%

The average value of an EFTPOS transaction in 2009 was $68.73.  This has remained in a very tight range of 48c (from $68.73 to $69.21) over the past four years.  

Combined transactions (i.e. purchase and cash-out) have the highest average value at $102.63, cash-out transactions average $84.58 per transaction while the average value of a purchase only transaction has the smallest average value at $64.25.

Excluding the series break, which was the result of an increase in coverage of financial institutions, growth rates for use of EFTPOS are remain at around the highest levels in 10 years.

Growth rates presented in the charts below show annual changes.

Direct entry

In 2009, there were 2.3 billion direct entry transactions with a total value of $11.9 trillion.   This year, the number of transactions increased by 4.9% (106 million) while the value fell by 1.5% or $178 billion.

Credit transfers made up 71.5% of all direct entry transfers in 2009 and 58.9% of the value while debit transfers made up 28.5% of direct entry transactions and 41.1% of the value. 

The average of a credit transfer in 2009 was $4,318 while the average value of a debit transfer was $5,244.

Accessing cash

Based on the payments methods discussed above, customers of ADIs can access cash using three methods:

• Cash advances using a credit card
• Cash-out at an EFTPOS terminal
• ATM cash withdrawal

In 2009, customers of ADIs conducted 1.1 billion transactions with a value of $177.2 billion to access cash using their credit card, an EFTPOS terminal or an ATM.  This amount is virtually unchanged from the previous year. 

ATM withdrawals accounted for 85.5% or $151.5 billion of cash taken out by customers.  The proportion of cash taken out using an ATM has been very stable over the past seven years, ranging from 85.1% to 85.5%.

	Credit card - cash advances		EFTPOS - cash and combined		ATM withdrawals		Total cash
	$bn	%contrib	$bn	%contrib	$bn	%contrib	$bn
2003	$10.4	7.3%	$10.9	7.6%	$120.8	85.1%	$142.0
2004	$11.0	7.3%	$11.2	7.4%	$128.7	85.3%	$150.8
2005	$11.5	7.3%	$11.6	7.4%	$134.0	85.3%	$157.1
2006	$12.6	7.7%	$11.9	7.3%	$139.3	85.1%	$163.7
2007	$12.5	7.4%	$12.3	7.3%	$144.9	85.3%	$169.7
2008	$12.9	7.3%	$13.1	7.4%	$151.5	85.4%	$177.5
2009	$11.4	6.5%	$14.2	8.0%	$151.5	85.5%	$177.2

Over the past seven years, EFTPOS has been the method use for about one in five transactions involving cash being taken out.  In 2009, this was 21.6%.

	Credit card - cash advances		EFTPOS - cash and combined		ATM withdrawals		Total trans.
	Million	%contrib	Million	%contrib	Million	%contrib	Million
2003	35.3	3.7%	191.0	20.3%	715.6	76.0%	941.8
2004	36.3	3.7%	195.8	19.7%	760.6	76.6%	992.7
2005	37.4	3.6%	201.8	19.6%	791.9	76.8%	1,031.1
2006	38.2	3.6%	205.4	19.4%	814.7	77.0%	1,058.4
2007	36.7	3.4%	212.2	19.5%	840.2	77.1%	1,089.1
2008	34.5	3.1%	221.6	19.7%	865.8	77.2%	1,121.9
2009	29.9	2.7%	240.9	21.6%	843.2	75.7%	1,114.0

In 2009, EFTPOS transactions involving cash being taken out grew by a strong 8.7% while the number of cash advances and ATM withdrawals fell.

	Credit card - cash advances		EFTPOS - cash and combined		ATM withdrawals
	Million	%change	Million	%change	Million	%change
2002	35.7		80.7		667.0
2003	35.3	- 1.3%	191.0		715.6	7.3%
2004	36.3	3.0%	195.8	2.5%	760.6	6.3%
2005	37.4	2.9%	201.8	3.1%	791.9	4.1%
2006	38.2	2.3%	205.4	1.8%	814.7	2.9%
2007	36.7	- 4.1%	212.2	3.3%	840.2	3.1%
2008	34.5	- 6.0%	221.6	4.4%	865.8	3.0%
2009	29.9	- 13.3%	240.9	8.7%	843.2	- 2.6%

The average value of cash taken out per transaction varies considerably depending on the payment method.  In 2009, the average value of a cash advance using a credit card was $383, for EFTPOS it was $59 while the average value of an ATM withdrawal was $180.

The following table provides more detail on transactions where cash is taken out.  That is, it breaks ATM transactions into own ATM and foreign ATM transactions.  This allows analysis as to whether customers are using cheaper methods to access their money, such as using their own ATM and using EFTPOS.

Over the past two years (2008 and 2009), both of these cheaper methods for accessing cash (own ATM and EFTPOS) saw significant increases in usage.  ATM transactions which occurred at a customers own ATM increased by 63 million (14.4%) and EFTPOS transactions which involve cash out increased by 28.7 million (13.5%) over the past two years.

On the other hand, the more expensive methods of accessing cash saw decreases.  Compared with two years ago, there are 6.8 million (18.5%) less cash advances and 60 million (14.9%) less ATM transactions conducted at foreign ATMs.   

Two-thirds of transactions involving cash out now use own ATM or EFTPOS, up by a significant six per cent in 2009 (from 60.6% in 2008).

In 2009, just over three million transactions were conducted every day where cash was taken out by customers.  Three-quarters of these were ATM transactions.