Credit card spending remained subdued at Rs 1,990 billion in January 2026, growing 8.1 per cent year-on-year, a report has said on Wednesday. However, data compiled by Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Limited showed that it has declined by 2.7 per cent compared to the previous month.
The report noted that the sequential decline in spending was largely driven by lower spends from the top four banks. State Bank of India saw the biggest drop, with spending falling by Rs 18.7 billion or 4.7 per cent month-on-month.
ICICI Bank’s spends declined by Rs 16.9 billion or 4.6 per cent, while HDFC Bank and Axis Bank reported declines of 1.3 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively. Despite the monthly moderation, the industry continued to see healthy year-on-year growth in transaction volumes.
Total transactions stood at 537 million in January, largely flat compared to December but up 24.9 per cent from a year ago. However, the pace of growth was lower than historic trends, indicating some slowdown in momentum, the report stated.
The weakness in spending was broad-based, with both online and point-of-sale transactions declining during the month. Online spends fell 2.5 per cent, while point-of-sale spends dropped 3.17 per cent compared to December.
In terms of market share, HDFC Bank managed to gain ground despite lower overall spending. Its market share rose 43 basis points month-on-month to 28.4 per cent, helped by a relatively softer decline in spends compared to peers.
In contrast, SBI and ICICI Bank lost 39 basis points and 34 basis points respectively due to sharper spending declines. Among mid-sized banks, Yes Bank and Federal Bank showed relatively better performance. Federal Bank, in particular, continued to expand its credit card base strongly, reporting 83 per cent year-on-year growth in cards outstanding.
The bank added around 0.12 million cards during the month, taking its total cards in force to 2.1 million. IDFC First Bank also recorded steady growth, with its card portfolio rising 30 per cent year-on-year, as per the report.
