Purchases on credit cards are growing at a healthy rate, but consumers continue to avoid personal debt and are paying off more of their card account balances each month.The latest Reserve Bank card statistics, released yesterday, show that consumers spent an average of A$1426 on credit and charge cards in September. Average monthly spend is up 10.9 per cent since September last year, when consumers spent an average $1285.Over the same period, the average balance accruing interest has fallen 4.4 per cent to $2217.Total spending on credit and charge cards in September was $22.02 billion (excluding cash advances) - an increase of 0.9 per cent over the previous month. Total spend on debit cards in September was $15.9 billion (excluding cash out) - down 5.2 per cent from the previous month.The average monthly spend on debit rose 3.9 per cent over the year to September - a much slower rate than the growth in average credit and charge card spend.MWE Consulting's principal, Mike Ebstein, said that "in a rare move" the share of value of purchases on debit fell. It was down from 41.7 per cent in August to 41.6 per cent in September.