look news india
Credit Card Transactions: Online credit card spending crossed Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time in March. Online card spend is expected to grow by nearly 20% to Rs 86,390 crore in March 2023 and by 10% to Rs 94,774 crore in February 2024. Offline transactions through point-of-sale machines alone rose to Rs 60,378 crore in March from Rs 50,920 crore a year ago. Total credit card spend in March 2024 was Rs 1,64,586 crore, up 20% from Rs 1,37,310 crore a year ago.
The number of credit cards in the country crossed 10 crore for the first time in February. At the end of March it had increased to Rs 10.20 crore. This number is 20% more than 8.5 crore a year ago.
How many credit cards of which bank?
HDFC Bank had the highest number of credit cards as of March 2024. Its market share was 20.2%. Public sector bank SBI is in second place. Its market share is 18.5%. ICICI Bank is at third place with 16.6% credit card holders. Axis Bank holds 14% and Kotak Mahindra Bank holds 5.8%. The top 10 card issuing banks had 90% share of the credit card market.
Why did credit card craze increase?
Access to credit cards has now become easier for people. Traction increased as reach increased. Point-of-sale spend in March grew 28% year-on-year to Rs 18 crore, while online payments increased 33% to Rs 16.4 crore.
Credit card even for small amounts
The increase in transaction volumes indicates that consumers are increasingly using cards even for low value payments. According to bankers, as card transactions have become possible on the UPI network, the average cost of transactions is likely to come down further.
Big cut in debit card payments
Debit card payments are declining. The popularity of UPI traction has been adversely affected. In March 2024, debit card transactions in stores fell 30% to 116 million and online transactions fell 41% to 43 million. In value terms, debit card transactions in stores fell 17% to Rs 29,309 crore and online transactions fell 16% to Rs 15,213 crore in March.