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Johannesburg - Cash withdrawals from ATMs decreased marginally by 0.73% in April 2013, Spark ATM Systems said on Monday.
Withdrawal activity was slightly lower than during the March holiday period, but was up 6.01% on the same month last year, the Spark Cash Index (SCI) showed.
The average value of cash withdrawals across 2 000 of its ATMs countrywide was R461.65 a transaction.
The largest decreases were recorded at retail (2.41%), wholesale (1.57%), and agricultural (1.48%) sites, Spark ATM Systems operations manager Ryan Tzamtzis said in a statement.
"The decline at these sites illustrates that consumers spent less than they did in March, which saw an increase in cash withdrawals as a result of the Easter weekend, school holidays, and other public holidays during the month," he said.
Tzamtzis attributed the annual upward trend to wage increases and more use of unsecured credit.
He said consumers' use of unsecured credit had started to slow, alongside a post-holiday spending cut.
The Eastern Cape reported the biggest provincial average cash withdrawal value of R495.24 for April, followed by Mpumalanga (R481.14), and Limpopo (R479.13).
Of the nine provinces, the Eastern Cape experienced the largest month-on-month withdrawal growth of 1.50%, and the second highest year-on-year increase of 10.01%, indicating that the demand for convenient access to cash in the province was significantly growing.
The Eastern Cape experienced the biggest gain in employment numbers for the first quarter of 2013, which corresponded with the growth in average cash withdrawals there, said Tzamtzis.
Gauteng showed month-on-month growth of 0.52%, and the Northern Cape 0.78%.
Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumulanga, North West, and the Western Cape all showed a drop in month-on-month withdrawal values, but all showed an increase on April 2012.
Wholesale locations recorded the highest average value of cash withdrawals for the third month in a row in April, at R472.23, followed by petrol stations, and retail sites.
