Credit card spending in India touched an all-time high of ₹1.37 trillion in March 2023, Business Standard reports, citing data from the Reserve Bank of India. This is a 47.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
The data showed that nearly 63% of the total credit card spending was carried out over e-commerce channels, while the rest was through point-of-sale terminals.
What’s driving this trend? Credit card usage has recently surged due to an increase in discretionary spending on vacation, travel, entertainment, and consumer durables, says Bibekananda Panda, Senior Economist, State Bank of India.
HDFC Bank continues to be the largest issuer of credit cards in India, followed by Axis Bank and ICICI Bank, the report adds. According to an earlier report by The Economic Times, co-branded credit cards such as Amazon-ICICI and Flipkart-Axis have also contributed to the growth of the credit card industry.