Card spending marginally improved in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the final quarter of 2018, payment platform Paymark has revealed.

The first quarter saw card spending rise by 0.9 per cent. Excluding fuel retail, the growth rate jumped to 1.3 per cent for the three months to March. Both figures, however, are below the average rate over the past five years of 1.4 per cent overall and 1.5 per cent excluding fuel.

Total card spending in the quarter reached $15.48 billion, 4.2 per cent higher than the same period in 2018.

The majority of this spending occurred in Auckland, which saw $6.14 billion spent

“A slower growth momentum exists at present,” Darren Hopper, Paymark’s head of e-commerce, digital experience and marketing, said.

“The monthly spending pattern can be volatile, as has been the case in the last six months. So too have the quarterly figures of late but a clear pattern has emerged of spending growth having decelerated.”

Hopper pointed out that this slowdown is more pronounced in the South Island, which saw spending growth fall from 6.3 per cent last year to a muted 3.8 per cent.

The North Island saw a higher growth figure at 6.2 per cent, making for “very mixed stories amongst merchants at present.”