Consumers took things quietly in January 13 March 2015 4:47PM John Kavanagh After a splurge in December consumers took things quietly in January, with credit, charge and debit transaction volumes all well down.According to the latest Reserve Bank payment card data, the total number of credit and charge card transactions fell from 215.1 million in December to 172.6 million in January - a 19.8 per cent fall.The value of credit and debit card purchases fell from A$26.9 billion to $21.5 billion over the same period.Debit card purchase numbers fell 11.5 per cent from 370.2 million to 327.6 million. The value of debit card transaction was down from $20.8 billion to $17.5 billion.Balances accruing interest on credit and charge cards fell from $33.1 billion to $32.8 billion, with the average balance per account of $2078.Year-on-year, the number of credit and debit purchases in January was up 4.8 per cent on the same month last year, while the value of purchases was unchanged.The number of debit card purchases in January was up 10.9 per cent on the some month last year, while the value of purchases was up 7.9 per cent.These numbers indicate that spending on debit continues to grow faster than spending on credit.