India Financials Credit cards (Apr’26): No respite in sight

Research evidence excerpt

India Financials Credit cards (Apr’26): No respite in sight

26 May 2026

India Financials EquitiesIndia Financials

Credit cards (Apr’26): No respite in sight India

◆ Credit card spending growth remained subdued, rising 7% y-o-y Abhishek Murarka*

in Apr’26, versus c12% y-o-y growth for the industry in FY26 SeniorHSBC SecuritiesAnalyst, Indiaand CapitalFinancialsMarkets (India) Private

Limited

◆ Mid-sized and smaller issuers account for around 40% of net abhishek.murarka@hsbc.co.in

+91 73049 07567

card issuance and are also gaining share of overall spending

Rahil Shah*

Analyst, India Financials

◆ We remain negative on this segment on the back of muted HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private

spending growth and declining share of revolving loans rahil.shah@hsbc.co.in

+91 22 6628 3719

Net card issuances trend stable: Yash Taparia*

◆ Total credit cards-in-force (CIF) for the industry grew at 8.0% y-o-y in Apr’26 HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private

(growth flat m-o-m). Net card issuances in Apr’26 at c800k remained marginally yash.taparia@hsbc.co.in

higher than the average run-rate of c750k cards per month in FY26. +91 080 6737 2394

◆ The top three card issuers issued 130-150k cards in Apr’26. While it was lower for

* Employed by a non-US affiliate of HSBC Securities (USA) Inc, and is

HDFCB, it improved for ICICIBC and SBIN compared to their average run-rate in not registered/ qualified pursuant to FINRA regulations

FY26. The top three players accounted for c52% of the incremental issuance.

◆ Outside of the top private issuers, IDFCB and FB continued to gain market

share. Other mid-sized banks like IIB and BOB saw a reduction in cards-in-force.

Card spending growth remains subdued: