Bank-led festive offers boosting credit card spend

Private sector banks (PVBs) maintained their dominance in the credit card spending market with a 74.2% share in September 2025, although this was a 130-basis point decrease YoY, CareEdge Ratings said

Credit card spending in India rose 23 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs2.17 lakh crore in September, reaching an all-time high for the first time since 2020, attributed to bank-led festive offers, increasing consumer demand driven by the festive season spending and GST reduction, a report said.

An uptick in card issuances in the month has also pushed the spending. However, this growth was marginally lower than the 24 per cent growth seen in the same period last year.

Private sector banks (PVBs) maintained their dominance in the credit card spending market with a 74.2 per cent share in September 2025, although this was a 130-basis point decrease YoY, CareEdge Ratings said in its report.

Meanwhile, public sector banks (PSBs) increased their share to 21.2 per cent from 18.4 per cent. The PSB market remains concentrated among a few large players.

According to the report, the total number of outstanding credit cards grew from 10.6 crore in September 2024 to 11.3 crore in September 2025, reflecting a steady increase in card penetration.

PVBs’ average spending per card in the month was Rs20,011, a 3.0 per cent rise YoY. Conversely, PSBs experienced a more significant increase of 30 per cent, with per-card spending rising to Rs16,927.

Meanwhile, the share of credit card outstanding balances in total retail loans declined to 4.5 per cent in September 2025 from 4.9 per cent a year earlier, indicating a relative slowdown in credit card outstanding's even as other retail segments expanded.

The total outstanding credit card balances stood at Rs 2.82 lakh crore as of September 2025, compared to Rs 2.89 lakh crore in August 2025 and Rs 2.72 lakh crore in September 2024, indicating a moderate YoY growth of 3.7 per cent on-year.

“The share of credit card outstanding balances in total retail loans has decreased marginally by 40 bps to 4.5 per cent in September 2025 from 4.9 per cent a year earlier,” the report said.