Summary of this article
Credit card spending crossed Rs 2 trillion again in July.
India’s credit card base rose to 122.86 million.
Private banks added most cards during January-July 2026.
Credit card spending has stayed above Rs 2 trillion for the third month in a row in July, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Total spending reached Rs 2.08 trillion during the month.
July spending rose from Rs 1.93 trillion in the same month last year and Rs 2.01 trillion in June 2026. It was the third consecutive month when spending crossed the Rs 2 trillion mark. The highest monthly credit card spending so far in 2026 was Rs 2.18 trillion in March.
Monthly Spending Moves Higher
The average monthly spend through credit cards was Rs 1.93 trillion in 2025. During January-July 2026, the average increased to around Rs 2 trillion.
The number of credit cards in circulation also grew during the period. Banks had 122.86 million credit cards outstanding at the end of July, compared with 121.6 million in June and 111.62 million a year earlier.
The increase in card numbers was led by private and public-sector banks (PSBs), while foreign banks recorded a decline in their outstanding cards.
Private Banks Add More Cards
Private-sector banks have added 3.9 million cards between January and July, taking their total card base to 86.91 million. PSBs added 1.55 million cards during the period, bringing their combined card base to 29.40 million.
Foreign banks, in contrast, saw their card base fall by 0.12 million to 4.24 million in July. Spending through foreign bank cards, however, rose to around Rs 9,000 crore.
Private banks have accounted for around Rs 1.50 trillion of credit card spending in July, while PSBs recorded spending of around Rs 46,000 crore.
HDFC Bank Leads Among Major Issuers
HDFC Bank has recorded credit card spending of Rs 60,217.54 crore in July, up 11.93 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). ICICI Bank’s spending fell 5.9 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 34,025.27 crore, while Axis Bank recorded a 4.6 per cent rise to Rs 23,824.7 crore.
SBI Cards have recorded a 21.6 per cent Y-o-Y increase in spending to Rs 39,591.76 crore.
HDFC Bank has added 230,067 cards during July, taking its outstanding card base to 26.97 million. SBI Cards has added 183,076 new cards to reach the total volume of 22.76 million.
ICICI Bank, on the other hand, has added 170,156 cards, taking its total to 19.69 million, while Axis Bank added 70,091 cards to reach 16.26 million.
With the average monthly spend at around Rs 2 trillion during January-July, credit card spending in 2026 has moved above the monthly average recorded last year.
