Transactions show Christmas week still the season to be spending

The big Christmas splurge has remained just that, with Eftpos transactions indicating the pre-Christmas spending was up about 7 per cent, while post-Christmas sales figures also rose.

Paymark Eftpos, whose network accounts for about 80 per cent of electronic transactions, reported $872 million was spent in the final week before Christmas compared with $814 million over the same period last year.

A three-hour breakdown in the system on December 23 which blocked half a million transactions appears not to have dampened sales.

Post-Christmas spending was also up, with National Radio reporting a 20 per cent increase on last year. Figures show $232 million went through Paymark's network between December 26 and 28.