Today is expected to the busiest Christmas shopping day of 2013, according to the National Australia Bank.

This Christmas NAB is expecting a peak of 8.7 million ATM, Eftpos, debit, and credit card transactions processed in a day, with a peak transaction rate of about 230 per second – almost one million more than last Christmas.

This compares to a daily average of 5.6 million transactions processed throughout 2013, with a peak transaction rate of about 170 per second.

NAB analysis shows the holiday season is traditionally about twice as busy as the rest of the year.

“In previous years the week before Christmas has been the busiest for traditional retail shopping and our analysis shows that Friday 20 December is likely to be the busiest shopping day this Christmas,” a NAB spokesman said.

“So if you’ve left your shopping until the last minute our advice is to get in early to beat the crowds and remember to take advantage of extended trading hours where you can.”

NAB’s analysis of 2012 Christmas shopping data shows:

• On Christmas Eve 2012 NAB saw volumes peak at more than 206 transactions per second (cards, Eftpos, and ATMs)
• On Boxing Day people flocked back to the shops – NAB processed more than 100 transactions per second (cards, Eftpos, and ATMs)
• Online sales are now equivalent to 6.4 per cent of traditional retail spending (for the year to September), up from 5.6 per cent for the same time last year