look news india
Mumbai: There has been a decline of more than 16 percent in spending through credit cards in November as compared to October of the current year. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, credit card spending during the festive season in October was Rs 2.02 lakh crore, which came down to Rs 1.70 lakh crore in November.
The significant buying that took place during the Dussehra-Diwali festival season in October slowed down in November. However, costs increased by five percent year-on-year.
Online purchases using credit cards were down 17.50 percent month-on-month in November, while point-of-sale sales were down 14 percent.
The pace of adding new cards has also slowed down. According to RBI data, the net growth of credit cards, which was 7.80 lakh in October, halved to 3.50 lakh in November. The total number of outstanding credit cards at the end of November was 10.72 crore, which was 9.60 crore in November last year.
Considering the sales at the end of the year, there is a possibility of increase in spending through cards in December.
Banks are also being cautious in issuing cards in view of the Reserve Bank’s recent stringent norms against unsecured loans like personal and credit cards, RBI sources said.