Festive season, GST relief boost per-credit card spend by 15% annually

Credit card spending zoomed during the festival season, aided by a rationalisation of GST rates, with private lenders leading the way

Amid a record rise in overall spending during the festive season, coupled with the GST 2.0 rate rationalisation, lenders have seen 15 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in per-credit card spending in September 2025, latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed.

 

Private banks led the way, as HDFC Bank continued to record the highest per-card spend, followed by ICICI Bank.

 

Among leading credit card issuers, HDFC Bank saw 2.8 per cent Y-o-Y increase in per-card spending to Rs 23,959.8, while SBI Card saw a strong increase of 33.5 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 18,892.3. ICICI Bank logged a 27.4 per cent annual increase in per-card spending to Rs 22,817.6, and Axis Bank posted 33.4 per cent Y-o-Y increase to Rs 16,884.6.

 

However, public sector lenders have seen a sharp increase in per-card spend in the past one year.

 

According to analysts at CareEdge the sharp increase in credit card spending of public sector banks was attributed to enhanced digital and rewards offerings by large PSBs.

 

“Additionally, the higher spending among PSBs reflects their focus on urban, high-income customers with larger credit limits. Furthermore, reward structures, partnerships with ecommerce platforms, and digital engagement have also contributed to higher utilisation levels,” analysts said in the report.

 

Per-card spending in the economy rose 15 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 19,107.6 in September 2025 owing to a record increase in overall card spending, largely on account of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) rate revision by the government coupled with the festive season, indicating higher value purchases, according to experts.

 

“Together, these four [top] banks contributed an aggregate of Rs 260 billion to total spends. This strong performance was largely supported by e-commerce festive sales on platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, where these banks were the major payment partners,” said Akshay Tiwari, analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates.

 

He added: “Given higher spends and flat transaction volumes, the average spend per transaction rose 13 per cent Month-on-Month (M-o-M), reflecting higher-value purchases during the festive season.”

 

Transaction volumes were also 24 per cent up Y-o-Y to 49.33 crore, as most banks reported stable transaction volume.

 

According to a recent research report by Paisabazaar, 42 per cent of credit card users spent over Rs 50,000 on festive shopping this year, reflecting increased appetite for high-value purchases. The rewards offered by credit cards are also making big-ticket purchases more attractive.

 

Credit card spends had touched a record of Rs 2.17 trillion in September 2025 aided by strong growth in online spendings. Online purchases made using credit cards rose by 25 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1.44 trillion, while spending at points-of-sale (PoS) rose by 19.2 per cent annually to Rs 72,544 crore.

 

Santosh Agarwal, chief executive officer at Paisabazaar, said: “The surge in high-ticket festive purchases through credit cards reflects a growing affinity towards value and convenience. Consumers are using credit cards more strategically, timing their big-ticket buys to coincide with festive season deals and card-specific rewards.”

 

Card issuances rose by 1.05 million from August 2025 to 113.4 million. In the same month last year, net card additions on a monthly basis were up by 0.62 million to 106.11 million.