Credit card spends ease in October as point‑of‑sale transactions grow 22pc

New Delhi, Dec 2 Credit card spending eased by Rs 2.5 billion in October to Rs 2,142 billion, a moderation of 1.1 per cent month‑on‑month but an increase of 6.1 per cent year‑on‑year, driven by a sharp shift toward point‑of‑sale transactions, a report said on Tuesday.

"The strong POS growth can likely be attributed to festive (Diwali) spending, whereas muted online spends are due to the elevated base of the previous month," the report from Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Limited said.

Point‑of‑sale transactions grew 22 per cent month‑on‑month and 11.4 per cent year‑on‑year, while online spending declined 12.7 per cent MoM and rose 2.7 per cent YoY. The top 10 banks accounted for 94 per cent of total spending, with HDFC Bank recording the highest MoM spending market share gain in October.

An increase of 6.7 per cent is seen in the total number of cards outstanding on a YoY basis, adding a total of 0.63 million cards, the report said.

Transaction volumes saw a healthy growth of 4.6 per cent MoM and 19.2 per cent YoY. The YoY growth is lower than the historical average due to a high base last year.

Since volume growth outpaced spend growth, the average spend per transaction declined by 6 per cent MoM and 11 per cent YoY. With card issuance rising and overall spending remaining flat, the average spend per card declined 1.7 per cent MoM and 0.5 per cent YoY.

IndusInd Bank reported a steep 36 per cent MoM decline in average spend per card, due to a sharp fall of 34 per cent in its total spends.

Among major banks, HDFC Bank led with 0.14 million new cards, followed by SBI (0.13mn), ICICI Bank (0.1mn), and Axis Bank (0.08mn). HDFC Bank reported the highest YoY gain of 1.12 per cent.

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