After pandemic, credit card spending on the rise in India: Report

The pandemic played a significant role in revolutionising India’s payments sector making cashless payments ubiquitous across the nation. Post pandemic, India is witnessing a major shift in card payments.

As per an Indian Express report, credit cards are now the preferred transaction mode for several across the nation.

Credit card payments increased significantly from Rs 6,30,414 crore in fiscal year (FY) 2020–21 to Rs 10,49,065 crore in the first nine months of FY23, the report added citing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

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The data showed that debit card payments decreased from Rs 6,61,385 crore to Rs 5,61,450 crore during the same period.

Transactions through credit cards increased by over 92 per cent - from Rs 65,736 crore in December 2019 to Rs 1,26,524 crore in December 2022.

In December 2020, credit card transactions stood at Rs 63,487 crore while in December 2021 at Rs 93,907 crore.

On the other hand, debit card payments decreased by 30 per cent - from Rs 83,953 crore in December 2019 to Rs 58,625 crore in December 2022. In December 2020, debit card transactions stood at Rs 65,178 crore while in December 2021 at Rs 66,491 crore.

Similarly, the total outstanding amount on credit cards increased by 22 per cent (Rs 32,301 crore) from April to December 2022 to reach Rs 1,80,090 crore. On an annual basis the outstanding rose by Rs 38,339 crore (27 per cent) over December 2021, when it stood at Rs 1,41,751 crore. Credit card outstanding, on the other hand, stood at Rs 1,10,350 crore in December 2020 and Rs 1,05,905 crore in 2019.

Credit card issuance has also been on the rise suggesting its popularity among consumers.

The number of credit cards issued rose to 8.12 crore in December 2022 from 6.89 crore in December 2021, 6.04 crore in 2020 and 5.53 crore in 2019 On the other hand, the number of debit cards issued increased to a mere 93.94 crore in December 2022 as against 93.77 crore in December 2021. In 2020, the number of debit cards issued stood at 88.64 crore and in 2019, at 80.53 crore.