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Time of India

Swipe fest credit card spends top Rs 21 lakh crore on consumer demand

Credit card spending in India surged over 15% in FY25 to a record ₹21.16 lakh crore, up from ₹18.32 lakh crore in the previous fiscal, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India pulled the plug on IWT when Pakistanis are fighting over water What makes this India-Pakistan standoff more dangerous than past ones The problem of Pakistan couldn't have come at a worse time for D-St The sharp rise underscores robust consumer demand and the growing shift towards digital, credit-based transactions, especially among urban and digitally-savvy users. March 2025 alone saw record monthly spends of ₹2.02 lakh crore, up from ₹1.64 lakh crore in March 2024, reflecting strong discretionary spending at the fiscal year-end. February figures stood at ₹1.68 lakh crore. The number of credit cards in circulation also grew to 10.98 crore by March 2025, up from 10.18 crore a year earlier, indicating sustained confidence in the economy and a preference for credit-led consumption. HDFC Bank led net new issuances in March with 2.2 lakh cards, followed by SBI Cards at 1.6 lakh, Axis Bank at 1.3 lakh, and ICICI Bank at 97,799. Amid signs of easing stress in the unsecured lending space, lenders are cautiously optimistic. "We are seeing stabilisation and improvement in the credit card portfolio and we will be building back acquisition," said Arjun Chowdhry, Group Executive, Axis Bank. "The growth will be brought back cautiously and in a calibrated manner. We are now looking at faster growth than we had because we have seen a stabilisation that will allow us to deliver on that growth." In total, 5.7 lakh new cards were added during March, up from 4.4 lakh in February, though still below the 12-month average of 7.1 lakh. Some banks, however, saw a decline. Kotak Mahindra Bank , which had its RBI-imposed card issuance ban lifted in February 2025, reported a net decline of 1.19 lakh cards. RBL Bank also lost 35,000 cards following the end of its partnership with Bajaj Finance . Analysts expect card spends to remain stable in FY26, driven by consumption momentum, though new card issuances may remain moderate. "Lenders are shifting focus to cross-selling and maintaining credit quality rather than chasing aggressive growth," said Bunty Chand, analyst at IDBI Capital. The RBI, which began macroprudential tightening in late 2023 to temper the rise in unsecured lending, recently eased risk weights for NBFC and microfinance loans but retained tighter norms for unsecured loans, a sign that cautious growth will remain the sector's mantra in the near term.