Credit card bill has continued to grow

AUSTRALIA'S credit cards bill has continued to grow, hitting a record $42 billion, new figures show.

The Reserve Bank of Australia today released figures showing the total outstanding balance on credit and charge cards rose to $42.698 billion in December.

There were 135.806 million transactions worth $19.250 billion in December, compared with 122.081 million transactions worth $18.314 billion in November, a rise of 5.1 per cent in value terms.

However, the data shows the rate at which credit card debt is accumulating is slowing.

The total outstanding balance on credit and charge cards rose by 9.5 per cent in the 12 months to December, compared with an average of 17.0 per cent over the preceding five years.

Australians also appear to be using their credit cards more wisely with the value of cash advances falling by 2.3 per cent to $1.034 billion in December, from $1.059 billion in November.

Credit cards repayments rose by 5.5 per cent to $18.807 billion in December, from $17.822 billion in November.

The number of credit and charge accounts increased by 0.4 per cent to 13.915 million in December from 13.858 million in November.

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