New Zealand purchases made with either credit or debit cards rose by 0.8% in July after a month in which they fell by 1.0%. When adjust for seasonality effects, such transactions rose by 1.2%. Most of the activity came from the non-retail and consumables industries. This marks the fifth time in six months that the metric rises. As such, the trend for purchasing goods with electronic cards has been upward. A closer look reveals that New Zealanders have actually been reducing their reliance on credit. July marked the 10th straight month in which the annualized percentage of card purchases were based on credit declined.