Holiday bank card outlay climbs 25%
Bank cardholders spent 51.6 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) through China UnionPay’s payment network during the seven-day National Day holiday, up 25 percent from the same period a year ago, as travel-related expenditure increased.
The volume of interbank transactions also jumped 27 percent from a year ago to 420 million, the country’s sole bankcard transaction firm said yesterday.
Shopping contributed the most — 80 billion yuan — during the holiday, China UnionPay said.
Railway and airline tickets as well as other transport-related spending jumped 56 percent from a year ago. The spending at scenic spots and hotels rose 39 percent and 10 percent respectively.
The size of cross-border bank card transactions through UnionPay network rose 9 percent while the number of transactions soared 36 percent.
Total spending at restaurants and eateries gained 7 percent while the average amount of each transaction fell 8 percent.