Credit card spends up 19% as Covid curbs ease

Credit card spends grew 19% on month and 64% on year to 751 bln rupees in July led by gradual opening of the economy and markets as curbs to contain the second wave of COVID-19 were eased, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.

"The recovery in economic activity and rising share of e-commerce transactions have enabled spends to witness strong recovery. We believe that continued opening of the economy and markets coupled with the upcoming festival season would keep spends momentum buoyant," the report said.

Among card issuers, IndusInd Bank reported the highest growth in card spends at 29% on month in July, while other major players reported a growth in the range of 18-24%.

RBL Bank saw a relatively lower growth at 15.6% on month, Axis Bank was flat, while foreign players like Citibank India and American Express saw a decline of 14% and 32%, respectively.

During the same month, the banking system reported net additions of around 599,000 new credit cards, taking the total credit card base to 63.4 mln, up 10% onyear.

This is the highest growth in outstanding credit cards in the past eight months.

Among major players, ICICI Bank reported a strong 23% on-year growth in credit card acquisitions followed by RBL Bank at 17%, IndusInd Bank at 16.3% and SBI Cards and Payment Services at 14.3% in July. ICICI Bank and SBI Cards were the largest credit card acquirers, adding 205,000 and 198,000 cards, respectively. Axis Bank added 93,000 cards while Kotak Mahindra Bank added 33,000 cards.