Cards outstanding rise 2% in January, HDFC Bank crosses 2 crore cards-in-force

Cards-in-force showed a steady increase of 1.63% in January, nearing the impressive milestone of 10 crore outstanding credit cards in India. As of the end of January 2024, the total number of credit cards in circulation stood at 9.95 crore, with HDFC Bank achieving a noteworthy feat by surpassing 2 crore cards during the same period.

Table of Contents

• Rise in Number of Credit Cards
• Top Issuers’ Performance
• Card Spends Trends

Rise in Number of Credit Cards

The number of credit cards saw a growth of nearly 16 lakh during January, though at a slightly slower rate compared to the 19 lakh additions in December 2023. Notably, HDFC Bank, one of the leading players in the market, added 2.3 lakh cards to reach a total of 2.01 crore cards by the end of January. Following closely was State Bank of India with 1.9 crore cards, while ICICI Bank observed a substantial increase with 3.1 lakh additions. SBI and Axis Bank issued fewer new cards, each below the 2 lakh mark.

Other key issuers like YES Bank, CSB Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and AU Small Finance also witnessed significant net additions in cards during January.

Top Issuers’ Performance

During January, HDFC Bank maintained its dominance in card issuance by adding 2.3 lakh cards, taking its total to 2.01 crore. SBI closely followed with 1.9 crore cards, while ICICI Bank registered the highest growth with 3.1 lakh new cards.

New cards issued by SBI and Axis Bank during the month were below 2 lakh each. The month also saw strong net additions in cards by YES Bank, CSB Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and AU Small Finance.

Card Spends Trends

Card spends for the month remained steady, witnessing a 0.8% growth to reach ₹1.66-lakh crore, the second-highest spending level after October 2023’s peak of ₹1.78-lakh crore. E-commerce transactions accounted for 64.8% of credit card spends, while PoS (point-of-sale) transactions comprised 35.2%.

Among the top four issuers, all except HDFC Bank saw a 4-7% increase in spending during the month. Axis Bank recorded the highest growth of 6.56% in spends, reaching ₹20,305 crore. Despite a 2.37% decline from December, HDFC Bank maintained its lead with spends amounting to ₹43,711 crore in January.

However, the sector as a whole experienced mixed trends in January. While issuers like Indian Bank, Union Bank, and Jammu and Kashmir Bank witnessed a significant increase in spends, others such as Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank, South Indian Bank, RBL Bank, Kotak Bank, HSBC, and SBM Bank India saw a notable decline of 3-14% in spends.