Credit card sales fall 45% YoY in June, slowest business since Oct '22

Indian banks recorded the lowest numbers since October 2022 in new credit card addition this June, a report by the brokerage firm Anand Rathi has revealed.

The month of June saw the banking sector selling 0.51 million new credit cards, which marks a 33 per cent fall from sales registered in May 2024 (0.76 million credit cards), according to the report. The slump is sharper when analysed year on year (YoY). Banks sold 0.93 million credit cards in June 2023, which means there has been a 45 per cent drop in June this year.

Card spend volume for the month of June 2024 showed an increase of 36.2 per cent year on year and touched Rs 357 lakh crore. The growth in card spend value, however, fell to Rs 1.58 lakh crore at 15.7 per cent year on year in June 2024, from 26.2 per cent in June 2023.

With net additions lower than in May 2024, the industry saw Cards In Force increase 17 per cent year on year in June, the report said. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank lost market share as far as Cards In Force (CIF) is concerned, while the Axis Bank credit card lost value and volume.

The CIF market share of SBI Cards and Payment Services fell 102 basis points (bps) year on year, the report showed. Marking an 18.5 per cent slump, this was the lowest since August 2022.

There was, however, an overall gain of 3 bps month on month (MoM) in comparison with May 2024. While HDFC Bank, at 11 bps, and ICICI Bank (10 bps) were the big gainers, American Express (AMEX), IndusInd Bank and Standard Chartered Bank managed to retain market share, the report stated.

HDFC Bank is currently the leader with a market share of 26.1 per cent while ICICI Bank, with a 19.2 per cent market share, recorded the biggest increase in spends value year on year at 241 bps. Axis Bank notably lost 48 bps month on month in June 2024 and witnessed the biggest loss, the report said. IDFC First Bank recorded market share gains (82 bps year on year) in CIF and spends volume (116 bps year on year). AMEX lost 22 bps month on month.