Credit card spending falls 2.8% in August as new card additions slow

Mumbai: Credit card spending and the pace of new card additions both declined month-on-month in August, pointing to moderation in spending per card and a shift towards smaller-value purchases. Spending fell 2.8% to ₹2.02 lakh crore from ₹2.08 lakh crore in July, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. In absolute terms, spending declined by ₹5,737 crore during the month. On a year-on-year basis, however, credit-card spending increased 5.9% from ₹1.91 lakh crore in August 2025.

Banks added 1.19 million credit cards during August, down 5.6% from 1.26 million cards in July, taking the total credit card tally to 124.1 million at the end of August from 122.9 million a month earlier, the data showed. The card base was 10.3% higher than 112.5 million a year earlier