Credit card spends hit ₹2 trillion for the second straight month in June

Overall spending rose 9.8 per cent year-on-year as HDFC Bank and SBI Card led growth, while outstanding credit cards crossed 121.6 million

Credit card spends hit the ₹2 trillion mark in June again, driven by HDFC Bank and SBI Card, even if some of the large private banks saw a decline over May, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India.

 

Overall credit card spends rose 9.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹2.01 trillion in June. Overall spending was ₹2.02 trillion in May.

 

HDFC Bank, the country’s biggest credit card issuer, posted a 16.2 per cent Y-o-Y increase in spending to ₹59,432 crore. In contrast, ICICI Bank’s card spends fell 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹31,410.9 crore, while Axis Bank recorded a modest 1.4 per cent increase to ₹22,174.8 crore.

 

 

On the other hand, SBI Card reported a 34.4 per cent Y-o-Y jump to ₹41,077 crore.

 

“Large private-sector banks have seen around 6 per cent Y-o-Y growth, while other private-sector banks are down 4 per cent. The industry’s overall 10 per cent growth appears to be driven by public-sector banks,” said Saurabh Bhalerao, director, CareEdge Ratings.

 

He added that private banks remain cautious because of concerns around unsecured lending and asset quality. Meanwhile, public-sector banks are benefitting from higher adoption of UPI-linked credit, particularly through RuPay credit cards, where they have a stronger issuance franchise, helping drive higher spending.

 

The banking sector’s outstanding credit card base grew 0.95 per cent M-o-M and 9.36 per cent Y-o-Y to 121.6 million cards.

 

HDFC Bank added 163,511 cards during the month, taking its total base to 26.75 million. SBI Cards added 162,664 cards to reach 22.5 million, while ICICI Bank added 151,352 cards to take its base to 19.52 million. Axis Bank added 48,636 cards, taking its outstanding card base to 16.19 million.