Cash withdrawals from ATMs decreased marginally by 0.73 percent in April 2013, Spark ATM Systems said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Withdrawal activity was slightly lower than during the March holiday period, but was up 6.01 percent on the same month last year, the Spark Cash Index (SCI) showed.<\/p>\n
The average value of cash withdrawals across 2000 of its ATMs countrywide was R461.65 a transaction.<\/p>\n
The largest decreases were recorded at retail (2.41 percent), wholesale (1.57 percent), and agricultural (1.48 percent) sites, Spark ATM Systems operations manager Ryan Tzamtzis said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The decline at these sites illustrates that consumers spent less than they did in March, which saw an increase in cash withdrawals as a result of the Easter weekend, school holidays, and other public holidays during the month,” he said.<\/p>\n
Tzamtzis attributed the annual upward trend to wage increases and more use of unsecured credit.<\/p>\n
He said consumers’ use of unsecured credit had started to slow, alongside a post-holiday spending cut.<\/p>\n
The Eastern Cape reported the biggest provincial average cash withdrawal value of R495.24 for April, followed by Mpumalanga (R481.14), and Limpopo (R479.13).<\/p>\n
Of the nine provinces, the Eastern Cape experienced the largest month-on-month withdrawal growth of 1.50 percent, and the second highest year-on-year increase of 10.01 percent, indicating that the demand for convenient access to cash in the province was significantly growing.<\/p>\n
The Eastern Cape experienced the biggest gain in employment numbers for the first quarter of 2013, which corresponded with the growth in average cash withdrawals there, said Tzamtzis.<\/p>\n
Gauteng showed month-on-month growth of 0.52 percent, and the Northern Cape 0.78 percent.<\/p>\n
Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumulanga, North West, and the Western Cape all showed a drop in month-on-month withdrawal values, but all showed an increase on April 2012.<\/p>\n
Wholesale locations recorded the highest average value of cash withdrawals for the third month in a row in April, at R472.23, followed by petrol stations, and retail sites.<\/p>\n
The highest month-on-month growth was recorded by leisure locations at 2.18 percent, which also recorded the second highest year-on-year increase of 8.70 percent.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the year, farming locations had recorded the highest year-on-year growth, at 22.46 percent in April.<\/p>\n
This could have been a result of recent farmworker wage increases, Tzamtzis said.<\/p>\n
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