Summary of this article
Credit card transactions jumped 2.6 times between 2021 and 2025
Debit card usage declined amid rising UPI and wallet adoption
Private banks increased dominance in country’s credit card market
Credit card transactions in the country increased more than 2.6 times between calendar years 2021 and 2025, according to the latest payment system report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The report showed that credit card transaction volumes rose to 570 crore in 2025 from 216 crore in 2021. The value of these transactions also increased sharply to Rs 23.2 lakh crore from Rs 8.9 lakh crore during the same period. This reflected an annual growth rate of nearly 27 per cent.
At the same time, debit card transactions recorded a decline both in terms of volume and value. Transaction volumes fell to 133.6 crore in 2025 from 408.7 crore in 2021, while transaction value declined to Rs 4.5 lakh crore from Rs 7.4 lakh crore.
RBI said the decline in debit card usage was linked to increasing competition from Unified Payments Interface (UPI), digital wallets and higher adoption of credit cards. Despite the fall in usage, debit cards continued to be more widely held than credit cards.
Private Banks Strengthen Position
Private sector banks further strengthened their dominance in the credit card market during the period under review. Their share in outstanding credit cards reached 71.1 per cent in December 2025, from 67.7 per cent in December 2021.
Public sector banks recorded a marginal increase in their share to 23.9 per cent from 23.5 per cent during the same period. Foreign banks, however, saw a significant decline in market share to 3.8 per cent from 9.3 per cent.
The report also noted that small finance banks had issued 14 lakh credit cards by December 2025.
Digital Payments Continue To Expand
The payments report has highlighted continued growth in the country’s digital payments ecosystem. The volume of digital payments grew 33 times between 2016 and 2025, and the total value rose almost threefold over the same time period.
For the past five years alone, digital payment volumes rose more than fourfold, as consumers continue to favour digital payment systems.
Payments Infrastructure Saw Mixed Growth
RBI has also pointed to mixed trends in payment infrastructure between June and December 2025.
UPI QR codes increased to 7,313 lakh in December 2025 from 6,782 lakh in June 2025, reflecting continued merchant adoption of QR-based payment systems.
However, physical payment infrastructure such as point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs), micro-ATMs and Bharat QR recorded a decline during the same period.
CCIL, AMC Repo Plan New Services
Separately, the report said the Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL) plans to introduce bond forwards and non-deliverable forwards (NDFs). It also aims to expand services related to margining for non-centrally cleared derivatives.
RBI has stated that these steps are intended to broaden risk management tools in financial markets. Meanwhile, AMC Repo Clearing Ltd plans to introduce repo transactions in municipal bonds, subject to regulatory approvals.
