Could be good festive season, judging by Nov ATM withdrawals

"The increase in the value of cash in circulation for November is in line with the historic trend for this time of the year, which is on track to better the highest withdrawal value of R447, recorded during December 2010," says Marc Sternberg, MD of Spark ATM Systems.

"Looking forward, with the annual trend being that cash withdrawal values increase steadily month on month from November to December, we can therefore expect the retail sales figures for the last month of the year to also show good year-on-year increases."

Stats SA's Retail Trade Sales (RTS) values follow the same pattern as South Africa cash withdrawal values. Released two months ahead of the RTS, the SCI figures therefore predict the pattern that RTS will follow. The increase in the SCI during October and November hints that growth in the RTS should be reflected when Stats SA releases these values.

The SCI is a useful 'real-time' gauge of consumer spending, utilising the company's ATM systems' network of over 1400 ATMs located countrywide to reflect accurate, broad and timely cash demand and utilisation data. These ATMs are typically located in convenience stores, petroleum stations, specialist retail nodes and leisure & hospitality venues.