Domestic Credit Cards See Healthy Growth Amid Total Spending Slump

India's credit card industry grew by 9.5% in September 2026 reaching 123.8 million cards, despite a 6.2% drop in total spending attributed to a high base effect and shifts in festive season timing.

Industry Growth and Performance Trends

Domestic credit cards’ growth remained healthy at 9.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY), even as overall spending across the sector declined on account of an elevated base from the previous year, according to a report by Jefferies. The total cards-in-force (CIF) across the industry expanded to 123.8 million during September 2026, advancing from 9 per cent recorded in August 2026. However, total credit card spending fell 6.2 per cent YoY during the month, compared to a growth of 5.5 per cent registered in the previous month. Sequentially, overall industry spending recorded an increase of 0.7 per cent month-on-month (MoM) to reach Rs 2 trillion. "The decline in spending on a YoY basis mostly reflected a higher base last year boosted by post-GST spending and an earlier timing of festive season," the Jefferies report said.

Individual Issuer Performance

The report detailed that individual issuers showed varied performance in circulation and spend volumes. SBI Cards saw its cards-in-force growth improve marginally to 7.7 per cent YoY from 7.6 per cent, maintaining an overall market share of 19 per cent. The company added 0.21 million cards during September compared to 0.19 million in August, which accounted for an 18 per cent share of total industry net additions. As per the report, across other major market participants, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank posted card growth of 8 per cent YoY each, Axis Bank advanced by 7 per cent, while card volumes at IndusInd Bank contracted by 6 per cent YoY.

Spending Distribution and Market Share

Highlighting the spending contraction and volume distribution for SBI Cards, the report noted that "SBI Cards' spending fell 14% YoY in Sept, and its share of industry spending fell 33bps MoM to 17.2%. Its share of online spending fell 84bps, MoM, to 16%, while its share of POS spending rose 52bps MoM to 18.5%." Among competing lenders, HDFC Bank registered a 167 basis points MoM increase in total spending share to reach 32 per cent, while ICICI Bank witnessed an 81 basis points decline to 15 per cent. Axis Bank maintained an overall stable share of around 11 per cent.

Spending Per Card and Digital Transactions

"SBI Cards' spending per card moderated to Rs15.1k in Sep-26 (Rs15.4k Aug-26), below the industry average of Rs16.4k SBI Cards' online ticket size was stable MoM at Rs2.4k, below the industry average of Rs4.1k, while POS ticket size at Rs5.9k (Rs5.4k Aug 26) was above the industry average of Rs2.7k," the report said. HDFC Bank recorded an increase in spending per card to Rs 23,800 from Rs 22,600, whereas spends per card softened on a monthly basis across most other primary issuers. At the same time, the industry receivables-to-spends ratio on a trailing three-month basis rose 10 basis points MoM to 12.3 per cent in August 2026. Broader retail digital transactions, excluding NEFT, registered a 16.4 per cent YoY increase to Rs 44 trillion during the period. Within this category, credit cards accounted for 4.64 per cent of total retail digital spending, marking a sequential rise of 12 basis points despite contracting by 110 basis points compared to the corresponding period last year.

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