Card issuers turn to EMIs as India’s revolver model loses traction
Axis Bank and SBI Cards are pushing EMI conversions, loan-on-card products and merchant offers as more card users repay in full. Revolver balances have fallen sharply, shifting issuer economics toward instalment lending and fee-led income.
What happened
Indian card issuers are pushing EMIs, loan-on-card products, merchant offers and fees as timely repayments shrink revolver balances. Axis Bank expects EMI
Key facts
- Card spending grew at nearly 27% CAGR between 2021-22 and 2025-26
- Interest-bearing card balances including EMI loans fell to about 11% of annual card spending from roughly 21% several years ago
- Revolver balances-to-card-spending ratio fell to about 2.8% in the June quarter from roughly 7% in 2019
- SBI Cards revolvers fell to 22% of receivables currently from about 40% in March 2020
- SBI Cards interest-earning receivables including EMI loans declined to 55% from 60% a year earlier
Why this matters
Payments, fintech and retail-platform buyers should target EMI-enablement, credit-origination and merchant-financing capabilities as issuers shift from revolver economics toward embedded instalment credit.