Australians crunching credit card debt

The figures show the average credit card balance stood at $3,100 in July.

That is 0.6 per cent lower than a year ago.

CommSec's Chief Economist, Craig James, says it is the fastest decline since records began 14 years ago.

"Household finances are in good shape, people have gained from the fact that taxes have been cut income levels have been rising and interest rates have been falling, but they're using that extra cash to pay off credit card debt," he said.

"And if they're going to make any purchases they tend to use debit cards rather than credit cards."