Credit card spends grew by 10.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 1.84 trillion in January 2025, even as there was a marginal drop sequentially, latest data released by the RBI showed.
Credit card spend of the leading card issuer HDFC Bank rose by 15.91 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 50,664 crore. Those of SBI’s clocked a 6 per cent drop to Rs 28,976 crore, ICICI Bank’s spends rose by 20.25 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 35,682 crore.
On the other hand, Axis Bank’s spending slipped by 0.45 per cent to Rs 20,212 crore.
Per card spend in the industry stood at Rs 16,910, 1.09 per cent up from the same period last year. HDFC Bank’s per card spending slipped by 0.61 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 21,609.93, SBI cards clocked 14.23 per cent Y-o-Y drop to Rs 14,147 and Axis Bank clocked 7.38 per cent drop to Rs 13,673.41.Among large card issuers, only ICICI Bank clocked 11.69 per cent growth on per card spend to Rs 19,730.81 compared to last year.
The data showed credit card issuances also reported a minor drop in January compared to December 2023. The net card additions in the month stood at 8,17,279 as against 8,20,000 card additions in December 2024.
In January, total cards in force increased by 9.4 per cent YoY to 108.87 million.
Leading credit card issuer HDFC Bank added 299,761 cards in January. Similarly, SBI Cards added 234,537 cards and ICICI Bank added 183,157 cards. Axis Bank’s net card additions dropped by 14,862 in the month.