Giving Credit Where It’s Due

Living off credit is a trend that is fast gaining ground in the country as total credit cards outstanding increased to 70.3 million as of January 2022. The increase came on the back of net card additions of around 13 million cards during the month, according to IIFL Securities. Top 10 players added 82% of incremental cards in January 2022. However, per card spend per month has fallen from a record high YoY growth of 160% in April 2021 to a low of 17.7% in January 2022, at just ₹12,500. On a CAGR basis, though, spends grew 9.4% versus the FY20 average of ₹10,600.