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India adds 1.26 million credit cards in July

By Sohail Khan 25 August 2026, 11:46 pm

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Business News›Industry›Banking/Finance›Banking›India adds 1.26 million credit cards in July as spending rises; HDFC, SBI lead the way

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India adds 1.26 million credit cards in July as spending rises; HDFC, SBI lead the way

Synopsis

healthy demand Industry card additions rise 11.5% over June; Card spends hold above ₹2 lakh-crore mark; Transaction volumes surge but the value per transaction declines

Wave of Mass Mkt Credit Cards Erodes Foreign Majors’ Base — India’s credit-card issuers stepped up card additions in July, adding a net 1.26 million cards—11.5% more than in June.

Mumbai: India's credit-card issuers stepped up card additions in July, adding a net 1.26 million cards-11.5% more than in June – even as growth in spending continued to trail the expansion in cards and transaction volumes, Reserve Bank of India data showed.

Credit-card spending rose 7.4% year-on-year and 3.4% month-on-month to ₹2.08 lakh crore. Issuers added 11 million cards over the past year, lifting the outstanding base 9.9% to 122.9 million. Sequential additions accelerated from 1.13 million cards in June.

Transaction volumes increased 24.5% year-on-year to 605.3 million, more than three times the growth in expenditure. Consequently, the average value per transaction declined nearly 14% to about ₹3,440 from ₹3,987, indicating that cards were being used more frequently for smaller-value payments.

ET Bureau

"The continued growth in cards-in-force and stronger card additions indicate steady underlying demand and healthy expansion in the industry's customer base," said Sweta Padhi, analyst at IDBI Capital.

Over the past year, HDFC Bank added 2.1 million cards, the highest among issuers, followed by ICICI Bank with 1.64 million and SBI Card with 1.50 million.

Federal Bank added 1.20 million cards, surpassing Axis Bank's 1.08 million, while IDFC First Bank added 1.03 million.

"Credit card spending remained resilient, holding broadly above the ₹2 lakh crore mark. The industry also continued to add customers at a healthy pace, indicating that penetration and adoption trends remain intact, reflecting sustained consumer adoption. PSBs continued to gain share in overall credit card spending," said Saurabh Bhalerao, associate director, BFSI research, at CareEdge Ratings.

Public-sector banks' aggregate card spending rose 22% year-on-year to ₹46,159 crore, increasing their share of industry expenditure by about 265 basis points to 22.2%.

Private-sector banks' spending grew a more modest 2.8% to ₹1.50 lakh crore, reducing their share by about 321 basis points to 72.1%.

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