Advance Australia the Plastic

I was having a yarn with a local shopkeeper the other day when he remarked that most of his over-the-counter sales involved plastic.
I was rather surprised, being addicted to the feel of a roll of readies myself, but it was an observation borne out by the Australian Crime Commission’s latest report this year:

“Card transactions have continued to increase substantially over the past decade.
For example, during that period credit card transactions have increased from 42.8 million to 118.8 million per month.
Australians spend A$17.8 billion per month on credit cards and A$11.3 billion per month on EFTPOS transactions, and they withdraw A$12.4 billion per month from ATMs……
More than 657 000 cases of card fraud on Australian issued credit and debit cards were reported in Australia during 2009.
The value of credit card fraud was estimated at 57.15 cents per $1000 transacted in 2009. The value of debit card fraud during that year was estimated at 9.43 cents per $1000 transacted.”