So what did most South Africans spend their December pay cheques and bonuses on?
Was it on paying off loans incurred throughout the year? Booking fancy holiday homes or buying school uniforms and stationery ahead of the new school year?
None of the above.
Most of their December spending went towards food. So says BankservAfrica‚ Africa’s largest automated payments clearing house.
According to their Economic Transaction Index‚ the main purchases recorded over the December holidays were at grocery stores and supermarkets.
"[There were] supermarkets followed by service stations‚ eating places and restaurants‚ family clothing stores‚ and convenience stores and specialty markets‚ indicating the greater spending tendency towards consumables"‚ the group said.
The highest spend‚ however‚ came from one person who swiped R5-million in a single transaction!
What did SA spend their December bonuses on?
So what did most South Africans spend their December pay cheques and bonuses on?
Was it on paying off loans incurred throughout the year? Booking fancy holiday homes or buying school uniforms and stationery ahead of the new school year?
None of the above.
Most of their December spending went towards food. So says BankservAfrica‚ Africa’s largest automated payments clearing house.
According to their Economic Transaction Index‚ the main purchases recorded over the December holidays were at grocery stores and supermarkets.
"[There were] supermarkets followed by service stations‚ eating places and restaurants‚ family clothing stores‚ and convenience stores and specialty markets‚ indicating the greater spending tendency towards consumables"‚ the group said.
The highest spend‚ however‚ came from one person who swiped R5-million in a single transaction!
It was not immediately clear what this huge swipe was for.
The person who showed the most activity on their account swiped 1‚160 times in the December period.
Just like during the 2016 festive season‚ South Africans were seemingly rushing to stores just ahead of the Christmas period with the most transactions being recorded on December 23.
While times may be tough with South Africans feeling the economic pinch‚ it seems they had more money to spend in the 2017 Christmas period compared to 2016.
The amount of transactions processed by BankservAfrica between December 1 and 31 2017 reached R51-billion.
This was nine percent higher than the R46-billion it processed a year earlier.