Paymark says spending in Canterbury improving

Thursday 5th May 2011

Spending is still constrained in earthquake-disrupted Canterbury but is improving, according to electronic transactions processor Paymark.

The company's network handled 74.8 million electronic transactions during April nationally, which is 5.3% up on last year.

The volume in Canterbury was down 2.1% on a year ago, which is an improvement from a 6.4% fall in February and a 11.9% fall in March. Business was disrupted by the magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Canterbury on February 22.

Paymark's head of sales and marketing, Paul Whiston, said the improvement nationally was due to the pick-up in Canterbury's spending as well growth in sales in the clothing and footwear sectors.

The improved clothing and footwear sales reflected the change of seasons with people ensuring they are prepared for winter.

The busiest day in the month was April 21 and it was the busiest trading day so far this year with 3.38 million transactions and a total spend of $184 million. People were stocking up ahead of a holiday weekend.

During the month the value of transactions increased 6.3% to $3.7 billion. The regions reporting the fastest annual spending growth were South Canterbury, Southland and Auckland/Northland.

NZPA

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