India credit card spending grows 11.5% in November on e-commerce

The number of outstanding credit cards rose to 11.5 crore in November 2025, up from 10.7 crore a year earlier.

Credit card spending in India grew at a double-digit pace in November 2025, even as monthly spending eased after the festive season, according to the BFSI Research.

Total credit card spending rose 11.5% YoY in November, supported by higher card penetration and continued growth in e-commerce.

On a month-on-month basis, however, spending fell about 11.8%–11.9% to Rs 1.89 lakh crore, which the report attributed to normalisation following festive-related demand in October.

Private sector banks (PVBs) continued to dominate the market, accounting for 73.8% of total spending in November, although their share was 160 basis points lower than a year earlier.

Public sector banks (PSBs) increased their share to 20.8%, up from 17.8% a year ago. Overall, spending remained highly concentrated, with three large PVBs and five large PSBs together accounting for around 80% of total card spending.

The number of outstanding credit cards rose to 11.5 crore in November 2025, up from 10.7 crore a year earlier, representing 7.1% YoY growth.

Average spending per card softened sequentially to Rs 16,470, down 13.0% MoM, but was still 4.0% higher YoY. PVBs recorded average per-card spending of Rs 17,128 or an increase of 2.0% YoY, whilst PSBs saw a sharper increase to Rs 14,323 or an increase of 21% YoY.

Online transactions continued to dominate usage patterns, accounting for about 60% of total transactions. E-commerce transactions grew 12.0% YoY in November, led by strong growth at PSBs (+41.8%) compared with PVBs (+8.5%).

Outstanding credit card balances stood at Rs 2.96 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.89 lakh crore a year earlier, although credit card balances’ share of total retail loans declined to 4.6% from 5.0%.

On a year-to-date basis, credit card spending increased to Rs 15.6 lakh crore in YTDFY26, compared with Rs 13.7 lakh crore in YTDFY25, a 14.1% YoY increase.