Credit Card Segment Sees Significant Uptick, Debit Cards Experience Decline

The credit cards segment of payments has shown a notable increase on a year-on-year basis as of December 2023, according to a latest report by Worldline India. In December 2023, the total number of cards reached 1.384 billion, marking a 6 per cent YoY increase. Among these, there were 97.9 million credit cards, 960.8 million debit cards, and 325 million prepaid cards, corresponding to YoY growth rates of 21 per cent, 2 per cent, and 13 per cent respectively.

Private sector banks dominated credit card issuance, with HDFC, SBI, ICICI, Axis, and Kotak being the top five issuers. Conversely, public sector banks led in debit card issuance, with SBI, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, and HDFC topping the list.

Despite the decline in debit card transactions volume by 34 per cent in H2 2023, credit card transactions surged by 21 per cent during the same period. The value of card transactions in H2 2023 amounted to Rs 12.66 trillion, with credit card transactions accounting for Rs 9.39 trillion. Notably, the average ticket size (ATS) for debit cards saw a robust growth of 24 per cent.

The report highlighted that while debit card transactions volume fell, the growth in debit card ATS suggests sustained usage among a significant population. Overall, credit cards have been consistently on the rise, driving the growth in transaction value and average ticket size across all card types.