More figures indicate consumers remain cautious in their spending.
Paymark, which processes more than three-quarters of all electronic transactions in the country, says spending rose 0.7% in August compared to the previous month.
It says growth remains strong at food outlets, while sectors hardest hit by the recession showed some signs of improvement, including furniture retailers and hardware.
The average transaction size is still declining, but the higher volume of transactions indicates consumers are managing to ffind good deals as retailers try to keep stock turning over.
Credit card growth rose 1.5% and debit card transactions rose over 8%.
Furniture sales have rebounded from large falls in 2008 while hardware sales are up 7% per annum.
