Credit card spends fall 3.3% in April after touching record high in March

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Credit card spending fell to ₹1.33 crore in April 2023, down 3.3 percent from a record high of INR1.37 crore seen in the previous month, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India.

According to the data, 61 percent of credit card spending during the month was for e-commerce payments, and 39 percent for point of sale (point of sale) transactions.

Most of the major exporters saw a 1.4-5.4 per cent drop in spending for the month, except for HDFC Bank which saw a marginal increase of 0.9 per cent to Rs 37,957 crore – the highest in the industry. It was followed by State Bank of India which saw credit card spending of Rs 24,291 crore and ICICI Bank of Rs 22,667 crore.

Credit card spending rose 15 percent month over month in March due to a small base in the shorter February and due to higher discretionary spending and the end of the fiscal year.

Spending has now stayed above the ₹1-lakh crore mark for the 14th consecutive month. Total credit card spending in FY23 was Rs 14.3 crore, an increase of 47 per cent over the year.

12 Lakh Cards Added

The industry network added more than 12 lakh credit cards in April, taking the total cards in effect to Rs 8.7 crore, up 1.4 per cent over the month. Credit cards in force as of March 31 were Rs.8.5 crore, up 15.9 per cent over FY23.

HDFC Bank led the increase in the number of cards in effect, adding 3.4 million cards during the month of April on a net basis, bringing the number of cards on hold to Rs 1.8 crore and retaining its position as the largest issuer of credit cards in the country.

It was followed by major private sector bank Axis Bank, which added 1.4 crore net cards during the month taking the total cards to 1.2 crore. ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL Bank also saw net additions of more than 1 lakh credit cards during the month.

On the other hand, issuers like Bank of Baroda, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of India have seen a decline in the strength of their credit cards.