The total spending by South African consumers in December reached R100-billion, while the volume of transactions reached 142-million, with 45-million transactions conducted at grocery stores and supermarkets, 12.8-million transactions at fuel service stations, eight-million at eateries and restaurants and 7.5-million at fast-food outlets.

However, in terms of value, consumers spent R26-billion at grocery stores and supermarkets, and spent R11.7-billion on betting, including lottery tickets, casino gambling and off-track betting. Consumers spent R9.2-billion at fuel service stations and R3.5-billion was spent at non-financial institutions, such as for foreign currency exchange and money orders, while consumers spent R3.1-billion at family clothing stores during December.

Payment clearing and reconciliation services company BankservAfrica’s Points-of-Sales transactional data showed how the spend varied among cost-conscious consumers, said BankservAfrica head of customer relations Solly Bellingan.

“Following the challenging year for the economy and households, our data show the total value of spending was only 7% higher than during the previous year, while the volumes had grown by 17%,” he noted.

Additionally, the amount of cash circulating in South Africa totalled R84-billion in December, according to BankservAfrica’s Integrated Cash Management Service data, which reflects the combined total of physical cash orders by commercial banks for their respective automatic teller machines and branch networks.

Despite the 6% decline in cash orders from the R89-billion in December, owing to the 19 working days in December 2022 compared to the 21 in December 2021, cash remained in high demand.

“One of the peak days was December 15, ahead of the Day of Reconciliation, with cash orders to the value of R8-billion placed. Further, cash orders worth R7.9-billion occurred on December 23, during the Christmas shopping rush,” said Bellingan.

BankservAfrica does not process interbank card transactions for all of the banks, which means that its data show only part of the fuller picture of the December transaction volumes and values. Further, the company does not monitor any transactions that take place between accounts at the same bank, he noted.