Foreign banks lose Indian cardholders as mass-market issuers widen lead
Foreign banks’ combined Indian credit-card base fell 7.1% year-on-year to 3.99 million by end-June, while the overall market added 10.6 million cards. American Express retained higher-spending customers despite a smaller base, underscoring a widening split between premium and mass-market card strategies.
What happened
American Express · Foreign banks' combined Indian credit-card base declined as domestic issuers captured mass-market growth through larger customer bases,
Key facts
- Combined foreign-bank credit card base fell 7.1% YoY to 3.99 million by end-June
- Five issuers lost 304,000 cards while industry added 10.6 million
- Foreign issuers' share fell 59 bps to 3.29% from 3.88%
- India's credit card base rose 9.6% to 121.6 million
- Standard Chartered cards fell 28% to 581,000; June spending fell nearly 18% to ₹693 crore
- DBS cards fell 29% to 310,000; spending fell 18% to ₹338 crore
- Amex cards fell 7.5% to 1.301 million; spending rose over 16% to ₹5,927 crore
- HSBC cards rose 3.5% to 980,000; spending fell nearly 10% to ₹1,729 crore
- SBM cards rose 17.6% to 828,000; spending fell about 14% to ₹53 crore
Why this matters
The widening gap between premium foreign brands and mass-market domestic issuers creates partnership or acquisition opportunities in rewards, merchant acceptance, and affluent-customer servicing rather than broad card-base expansion.
What to watch
- Monthly RBI card-in-force data, especially net additions at HDFC Bank, SBI Card, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Amex.
- Spend per card and share of premium-card transaction value, which will show whether foreign issuers are offsetting lower customer counts with higher engagement.
- New or renewed co-brand agreements involving e-commerce, airline, travel, fuel, grocery and quick-commerce partners.
- Changes in issuer reward rates, annual fees, lounge-access rules and merchant-funded offer intensity.
- Credit-cost trends, delinquency rates and RBI rules affecting unsecured lending, which could slow aggressive mass-market issuance.
- UPI credit-card adoption and RuPay credit-card issuance, which could shift low-ticket transaction share further toward domestic banks.
- Domestic card issuers are likely to increase retailer-funded cashback, EMI and festival-sale campaigns to monetize their expanding customer bases.
- Major marketplaces, electronics chains, travel platforms and quick-commerce firms may prioritize exclusive offers with high-volume domestic issuers over foreign-bank partnerships.
- Foreign banks are likely to protect economics by tightening underwriting, increasing premium-card benefits and concentrating rewards on affluent spending categories rather than broad cashback.
- Co-brand competition may intensify as issuers seek captive acquisition channels through airlines, fuel retailers, e-commerce platforms and large loyalty ecosystems.
- Retailers may face greater pressure to fund bank-specific promotions, while gaining access to larger pools of pre-approved domestic cardholders.