India’s credit card market is facing a slowdown, according to a new report by CRIF High Mark. The report reveals a decline in the number of new cards being issued and an increase in late payments.
The report, titled CreditScape, shows that by June 2024, credit card balances reached ₹3.3 lakh crore, a 26.5% rise from the previous year. However, this growth is slower compared to the 32.5% increase seen in the same period last year. The total number of credit cards in circulation grew by 13.5% to 10.1 crore, also slower than the 18.7% growth recorded in the previous year. The average balance per card rose to ₹32,233, marking an 11.6% increase.
Late payments are becoming more common across all categories of credit cards. The percentage of cards with payments overdue by 91 to 180 days increased slightly from 2.2% last year to 2.3% in June 2024. Cards with limits under ₹50,000 showed the highest risk, with overdue payments between 31 and 90 days rising from 2.5% in June 2022 to 3.2% in June 2024. For medium-sized card issuers, the percentage of cards overdue by more than 360 days nearly doubled, jumping from 1.5% to 3.8% over the same period.
New card issuances have also dropped sharply. In the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year (FY25), only 4.4 million new cards were issued, a 34.4% decrease from the 6.7 million issued in the same quarter of FY24. This drop contributed to a slower overall growth of 4.7% in new cards in FY24 compared to FY23.
Despite the slowdown, large card issuers continue to dominate the market. They account for 70.2% of the total credit card balances and 74.5% of active cards. However, medium-sized issuers are gradually gaining ground. They now hold 17.9% of outstanding balances, and their share of new card issuances increased to 29.7% in the first quarter of FY25, up from 22.2% in FY22. Both large and medium issuers are focusing on offering higher-limit cards and targeting specific geographic regions to boost their market share.
