Mumbai: In comparison to September of the current year, expenditure through credit cards has increased by 14.50 percent in October to more than Rs 2 lakh crore. RBI sources said that due to increase in online shopping due to festive season, expenditure through cards has increased. Banks have become wary of issuing cards due to the rise in non-performing assets (NPAs).
According to Reserve Bank data, Rs 2.02 lakh crore was spent through credit cards in October, which is 13 percent more year-on-year. Spending has increased significantly but the number of credit cards has seen a marginal increase.
The number of credit cards increased by 12.85 percent to 10.68 crore compared to October last year, which is 0.74 percent more than September. The number of credit cards increased by 786,337 in October.
RBI sources said spending through credit cards increased in October due to Dussehra-Diwali festivities.
In the September quarter, most private banks reported a significant rise in non-performing assets on unsecured loans such as credit cards. Keeping this fact in mind, banks were forced to take steps like tightening the credit score requirement besides reducing the spending limit through cards, so as to prevent defaults in this segment.