Australia’s credit card balance fell half a percentage point per cent in March, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) figures released today show.

The total balance of credit and charge card transactions fell to $43.04 billion in March, from $43.25 billion in February.

Total repayments rose by 5.4 per cent to $17.67 billion in March, from $16.77 billion.

The number of credit and charge accounts increased by 65,000 to 14.08 million in March, from 14.02 million in February.

The number of purchases using credit cards rose 3.2 per cent to 112.87 million in March, from 109.37 million in February.

By value, credit purchases fell to $16.064 billion in March, from $16.46 billion in February.

The number of cash advances on credit and charge cards rose to 2.91 million, from 2.83 million, as the value of advances increased to $1.08 billion, from $1.04 billion.

AAP