Bay of Plenty wallets did all the talking last month with Paymark figures recording a 1.6 per cent increase in money spent within the region throughout December.

Figures released today by Paymark, which processes about 75 per cent of all electronic transactions in New Zealand, show $313.2million was spent in the Bay of Plenty - up from $308.2million the same time last year.

The Bay of Plenty recorded a 1.6 per cent increase in spending figures according to figures released by Paymark.

The region also recorded a 3 per cent increase in the total number of transactions, jumping from 5.78million transactions to 5.95million.

Paymark says December 2012 spending was up while the seasonally adjusted total spend through the Paymark network increased 0.5 per cent from November to December 2012, the third consecutive monthly gain.

Despite the positive spending in the week leading up to Christmas, in total the month of December increased a below average 2.3 per cent year-on-year.

Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston says when the figures are adjusted for seasonal fluctuations the growth rate sits at a more positive 4.3 per cent.

'While we appreciate that it's still tough out there for some retailers, the seasonally adjusted numbers paint a more realistic picture of what's going on and reflect what we think is an encouraging finish to 2012.

'It was positive to see pre-Christmas spending up once again on the previous year, and the 13.4 per cent lift on Boxing Day was a bonus for retailers trying to entice customers through their door with great bargains.”

Annual spending growth throughout December was high amongst cafes and restaurants (+7.1 per cent), liquor retailers (+8.0 per cent) and department stores (+6.3 per cent).

In addition, housing related spending was still strong during December, as people splashed out at appliance stores (+10.3 per cent) and hardware stores (+9.2 per cent).

It appears a number of households have welcomed new members this Christmas or certainly spoiled existing ones, as spending in pet shops was up 7.5 per cent year-on-year.

Nationwide, during December, the volume of card transactions was 3.6 per cent higher than a year ago, with debit card value (+3.1 per cent) increasing faster than credit card value (+1.4 per cent).

'When you look at 2012 as a whole, spending through the Paymark network has risen by 3.3 per cent in value and 3.2 per cent by number of transactions.”

'In 2012 Paymark processed 932 million transactions, totalling $46.5 billion. The average transaction value of $49.92 was 0.2 per cent above the 2011 average.”