Credit card spending reached a record Rs 1.4 lakh crore in May. According to the information received from the latest data of the Reserve Bank, in the last financial year, the credit card expenditure or balance remained at a limit throughout the year, but this year it has increased by five percent on a monthly basis. Credit card usage has increased by more than 5 million compared to January this year, reaching a record 8.74 crore in May.
Talking about new cards, 20 lakh have been used in the first two months of the current financial year. In January 2023, there were 8.24 crore active credit cards in the country. This number is increasing rapidly and has reached 8.33 crore cards in February, 8.53 crore cards in March, 8.65 crore cards in April. According to the RBI, credit card spends for the full year in FY 2022-23 stood at Rs 1.1-1.2 lakh crore, but in the current financial year it has reached a record high of Rs 1.4 lakh crore in May.
The central bank said the average credit card spend also hit a new high of Rs 16,144. HDFC Bank had the maximum number of active cards at 1.81 crore in May. The bank topped in credit card balances with 28.5 per cent share. In second place, 1.71 crore SBI cards were in use. After this, 1.46 crore cards of ICICI Bank were in use. Axis Bank stood at the fourth position with 1.24 crore credit cards.