New credit card issuances decline in February, 2021

As per a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd., based on RBI data over 549,000 new credit cards were issued in February, 2021 in India, a decline of 47% year-on-year and 22% sequentially, taking the total credit card base to 61.6 million.

During February, ICICI Bank, SBI Card, and Axis Bank were the largest credit card acquirers, with an incremental market share of 36.1%, 18.1%, and 18%, respectively. In FY21 so far, ICICI Bank has gained the highest incremental market share of 32.4%, followed by SBI Card at 30.6%, the digital payments.

The report said, “Monthly spends per card for the industry declined to Rs9,800 from ₹10,500-11,000 over the past four months. This was primarily due to a decline in the number of transactions per card to 2.6 from an average of 2.9 over a similar period.”

The report also stressed that most players, barring Axis Bank, saw a decline in spends per card, with HDFC Bank, SBI Card, and Citi witnessing a fall of Rs. 1,200-1,500. Others saw a modest decline.

Motilal Oswal, in its report, stated, “While the surge in covid-19 cases and ensuing lockdown in various states could slow down the recovery momentum, SBI Card would continue to gain market share, led by its diverse acquisition channels.”