Credit card spends drop to 8-month low of Rs 1.67 lakh cr in February

RBI) data showed, illustrating deceleration in the country’s discretionary spending through a month that coincides with the start of school board examinations in most parts of the country.

This decline usage was also accompanied by a significant reduction in new credit card additions that nearly halved to 440,000 in February—from 820,000 in January.
To be sure, India’s broadest equity gauges plunged through the first two months of 2025, before a late rearguard from overseas buyers through the last ten days of March helped the indices erase losses for the calendar year. Equity gains were often at the vanguard of big-ticket expenditures, particularly in the metros, through the first nine months of 2024.

“This slowdown in spending could be attributed to stricter lending policies and delinquencies in the unsecured segment,” said Sanjay Agarwal, senior director at Care Ratings. “A slowdown is particularly evident in metro regions, which account for 80% of loans. While credit cards remain a key component of retail lending, rising delinquencies and slowing growth trends highlight the need for prudent credit expansion and risk mitigation strategies.”

The three largest players—HDFC Bank, SBI Cards, and ICICI Bank—added considerably fewer cards. Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra, and RBL Bank experienced a sequential drop in their card numbers. RBI data from the end of February shows HDFC Bank, the largest credit card issuer, added 178,000 cards month-on-month, bringing its total to 23.6 million. In January, the bank had added