SBI Card cedes July spend share as ICICI and Axis rebound in India’s card market
India’s credit-card spends rose 3.4% month on month to ₹2,081 billion in July 2026. HDFC remained the leader with 28.9% share, while SBI Card’s spends fell 3.6% sequentially. ICICI and Axis recovered, and PSU banks continued to gain share.
What happened
India’s credit-card spending rose 3.4% in July. SBI Card lost sequential share as online spends fell, while ICICI and Axis rebounded. HDFC remained the market
Key facts
- Total credit card spends: ₹2,081 billion in July 2026
- Industry spends: +3.4% MoM, +7.4% YoY
- HDFC market share: 28.9%; spends +1.3% MoM, +11.9% YoY
- SBI Card spends: -3.6% MoM, +21.6% YoY; market share 19.0%
- ICICI spends: +8.3% MoM, -5.9% YoY; market share 16.4%
- Axis spends: +7.4% MoM, +4.6% YoY; market share 11.4%
- PSU banks' spend share: 22.2%, up about 265 bps YoY
Why this matters
The rebound at ICICI and Axis and continued PSU share gains suggest partnership, distribution and card-acquisition opportunities are broadening beyond the market’s traditional leaders.
What to watch
- August and September issuer-level spend growth, especially whether SBI Card returns to positive month-on-month growth.
- SBI Card's active-card growth, average spend per active card, revolving balances and delinquency trends.
- Announcements of new SBI Card co-brand partnerships, reward devaluations, fee changes or large merchant tie-ups.
- ICICI and Axis card additions, premium-card launches and share of online, travel and discretionary spending.
- PSU-bank card issuance growth and RuPay credit-card-on-UPI transaction volumes.
- Industry reward-expense trends, interchange economics and signs of promotional intensity compressing issuer profitability.
- SBI Card is likely to refresh cashback, travel, fuel and e-commerce offers, with emphasis on reactivating dormant and lower-frequency cardholders.
- ICICI and Axis are likely to extend merchant-funded campaigns and use deposit-account, payroll and wealth relationships to deepen card spend.
- HDFC is likely to defend its leading spend share through premium-card engagement and selective partner offers rather than broad-based discounting.
- PSU banks may accelerate card issuance and RuPay-linked propositions, increasing competition in UPI-enabled credit-card usage and entry-level segments.
- Merchant partners and payment networks may gain negotiating leverage as issuers compete more aggressively for transaction routing and exclusive offers.