Paymark says shoppers have been spending more as Canterbury firms return to business.
Paymark, which processes three quarters of all electronic payments, handled almost 75 million payments during April.
That's 5% more than in the same month last year.
The value of the transactions rose more than 6% in the year to $3.7 billion.
Paymark says the pick up was largely due to more spending in Canterbury, and growth in the clothing and footwear sectors.
South Canterbury, Southland, Auckland and Northland recorded the fastest growth in annual spending.