India’s credit-card spend per card falls 2.4% as issuances outpace use

Per-card credit-card spending declined to ₹16,976 in July 2026 even as total monthly spends held at ₹2.08 trillion. CareEdge expects festive demand to aid recovery, provided newly issued cards are activated and used.

— Source publishedFri, 28 Aug, 2026, 16:03 IST·First seen Fri, 28 Aug, 2026, 16:17 IST·Source Business Standard · Companies

What happened

CareEdge Ratings · India’s credit card spending intensity fell as card issuance outpaced transaction growth, though total monthly spends stayed above ₹2

Key facts

  • Per-card spending fell 2.4% YoY to ₹16,976 in July 2026
  • Total credit card spending reached ₹2.08 trillion
  • Per-card spending rose 2.3% MoM
  • Private-bank per-card spending fell 6.4% YoY to ₹17,308
  • Public-sector-bank per-card spending rose 12% YoY to ₹15,767
  • Foreign-bank per-card spending rose 18.7% YoY to ₹23,216

Why this matters

The growing base of underutilized credit cards creates partnership opportunities with issuers, fintechs and loyalty platforms to drive card activation, targeted offers and higher repeat spend.

What to watch

  • Monthly active-card ratio and the share of cards making at least one transaction within 90 days of issuance.
  • August-October transaction growth, particularly e-commerce, travel, electronics, apparel and durable-goods categories.
  • Spend growth versus outstanding card growth; a sustained gap would confirm continuing per-card dilution.
  • Credit-card revolving balances, delinquency rates, write-offs and issuer provisioning commentary.
  • Festival campaign intensity, merchant discount funding and EMI penetration.
  • UPI credit-card transaction growth and changes in acceptance economics.
  • Banks will increase activation-led acquisition, including first-transaction rewards, EMI offers, waived-fee thresholds and targeted merchant cashback.
  • Issuers may prioritize existing high-spend customers with line increases and premium-card retention offers rather than broad-based card issuance.
  • Retailers, marketplaces and travel merchants will intensify bank-funded festive promotions to capture card spend and raise average order values.
  • Co-brand card programs may face greater scrutiny on activation, repeat usage and cost per active card rather than headline issuance.
  • UPI-linked credit and card-on-UPI acceptance could become a key route for converting dormant cardholders into lower-ticket, higher-frequency users.