Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Big increase in pre-Rugby World Cup plastic spending

Updated at 5:43 am on 15 September 2011

Eftpos provider Paymark says spending on its network was up 10.9% on 2010 figures just prior to the beginning of the Rugby World Cup.

The head of sales and marketing at Paymarket, Paul Whiston says the percentage rise, which covers the week to 8 September, represents a huge increase in activity.

He says the value of transactions in the period was around $720 million, $70 million higher than that of the same week in 2010.

While much of that spending was by New Zealanders, he says, there was also an increase in overseas card use and spending.

For example, rental car activity in the period was up 46% year on year.

Mr Whiston says areas where games have been hosted - Northland, Auckland and Otago - have accounted for a lot of the activity but Canterbury also showed strong spending, despite not hosting any games.

Listen to Paul Whiston on Checkpoint

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