Press Office

Auckland, 7 February 2010 – The economic uncertainty of 2009 has lead to 45% of Kiwis planning to save more in the next six months, according to the latest MasterCard survey on consumers’ saving priorities.

While New Zealand consumer confidence levels may have improved dramatically in recent times¹ , the economic uncertainty of 2009 continues to linger with 87% keen to save more or the same amount as compared six months ago.

Of the respondents planning to save more or the same, results are evenly split, with 52% saving for a specific reason, such as investments or to purchase electronic goods and 48% of respondents citing they are saving for a ‘rainy day’.

The survey was conducted from 1 October to 9 November 2009 and involved 10,623 consumers from 24 countries across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Data collection was via personal, online, telephone and Computer Aided Telephone interviews, with the questionnaire translated to the local language wherever appropriate and necessary. The Index and its accompanying reports do not represent MasterCard financial performance.

Stuart McKinlay, country manager New Zealand, MasterCard Worldwide, says “It’s interesting to note that despite dramatically improved consumer confidence levels, the economic uncertainty of 2009 continues to linger, with the number kiwis planning to save more remaining unchanged compared to our previous survey results last year.

“This could be interpreted as a sign that people have not been quick to forget the uncertainty that underpinned last year and that kiwis have remained somewhat cautious in their saving plans”.

Younger consumers between the ages of 18 to 29 years old are leading the savings trend (59%), planning to save more in the next six months, compared to their older counterparts – 30 to 44 years (44%), 45 to 54 years (38%) and 55 years and above (32%). Respondents in the 30-44 age bracket (53%) are most concerned about saving for unforeseen emergency expenditures.

Similarly, young consumers are leading the way in saving to spend on future consumption. Top of the list of items they are saving for in the coming months include: international air travel (52%), buying or renovating a house (41%) and consumer electronics (39%). This is compared with the 30-44-year-olds whose top saving priorities include buying or renovating a house (47%), international air travel (40%) and consumer electronics (19%) and investments (19%).

The majority of Kiwi consumers save between 1 – 10% of their income (42%), a minimal 6% do not intend to save any of their income and 61% of respondents did not believe they earned enough to save.

“From an economic perspective, saving intentions can be categorised in two distinctively different ways,” said Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic advisor, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide.

“The first are saving intentions that lead to future consumption, typically for large expenditures such as a purchase or upgrade of a property or car, and for retirement.

“Savings made for these reasons are therefore leading indicators of future consumption. This type of savings has continued to be a key driver of savings behavior across the Asia/Pacific region.

“While we have seen that consumers across this region have turned cautiously optimistic about the economy, they remain nevertheless concerned with the regions near term economic outlook. This is understandable given the recent market volatility and its associated uncertainty. Hence, precautionary savings are staying relatively high in the region, which in turn implies that some downward pressure on future consumption will likely persist,” Dr. Hedrick-Wong added.

The three main reasons for Kiwi consumers saving less include feeling that they do not earn enough to save (61%), high inflation (14%) and believing in enjoying life now as much as you can (10%).

Market Highlights New Zealand:

• 45% of Kiwis are planning to save more in the next six months, 43% the same and only 13% plan to save less as compared to six months ago
• Of those respondents who are planning to save more or the same amount, 48% of them are doing so in preparation for unforeseen emergency expenditures. However 52% of New Zealand consumers do not see this as the main reason for saving more in the next six months. Among the different age groups, those in the 30-44 age bracket (53%) are most concerned about saving for a rainy day.
• Younger consumers between the ages of 18 to 29 years old (59%) are planning to save more in the next six months compared to their older counterparts – 30 to 44 years (44%), 45 to 54 years (38%) and 55 years and above (32%).
• New Zealander consumers are also saving for international personal air travel (43%), buying or upgrading property (37%) and retirement (34%).
• The majority of New Zealander consumers (42%) plan to save between 1-10% of their income in the next six months.
• A similar proportion of female consumers (45%) and male consumers (44%) surveyed in New Zealand are planning to save more in the next six months.

Base: Those who plan to save more/same in the coming 6 months compared with the
previous 6 months


Base: Those who plan to save more/same in the coming 6 months compared with the
previous 6 months



More information on the Index can be found at the website www.masterintelligence.com

MasterCard and its Suite of Research Properties

Based on the MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience is part of the MasterCard Worldwide Index suite of research products in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The others include the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence and MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women’s Advancement.

Besides these, MasterCard also regularly releases its Insights reports; the series is part its ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Over 60 Insights reports have been produced since 2004. MasterCard has also released a series of four books on Asian consumer insights, authored by its Asia/Pacific economist, Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong and published by John Wiley & Sons.

The MasterCard Indexes and Insights reports are available at www.masterintelligence.com

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 22 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard^®, Maestro^® and Cirrus^®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.