Credit card spending cools after festive bills

MUMBAI: Credit card spending slowed in Nov 2025 across India as festive demand faded after Diwali and Dussehra, with transaction values and volumes easing month-on-month once seasonal shopping normalised.Total credit card spends fell to around Rs 1.9 lakh crore in Nov, down 11.9% from Rs 2.1 lakh crore in Oct, data released this week showed. A surge driven by festival-linked purchases and large e-commerce sales events was seen in Oct. With those out of the way, spending corrected largely along expected lines.

Transaction volumes also moderated, slipping 3% month-on-month to around 50.3 crore transactions from about 51.8 crore in Oct, indicating a cooling in activity after the festive peak rather than a sharp pullback. All major banks reported a month-on-month decline in spending. However, HDFC Bank witnessed a comparatively softer decline of 10% MoM, while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI saw sharper declines of 15.9%, 15.8%, and 15.2%, respectively. In contrast, Federal Bank reported an increase in spending of 8% month-on-month, said Akshay Tiwari, analyst with Asit Mehta.Offline spending bore the larger brunt of the slowdown. Point-of-sale spends dropped 14.4% to around Rs 75,640 crore, reflecting the front-loading of high-value purchases such as jewellery, electronics, and automobiles into Oct. Online spends proved relatively resilient, declining 10.1% to around Rs 1.1 lakh crore, supported by recurring payments and routine expenses that are less sensitive to seasonality. Credit card usage rose on a year-on-year basis. Spends in Nov were 11.1% higher than a year earlier, while transaction volumes jumped 29% from about 390 million in Nov 2024, pointing to continued structural growth in card usage.According to Tiwari, the relatively lower decline in HDFC Bank’s spends translated into a market share gain of 50 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage point). Conversely, SBI, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank lost market share by 70bps, 52bps, and 36bps, respectively. Among mid-cap banks, Federal Bank gained 16bps, while IndusInd Bank gained 21bps, recovering partially after losing 209bps of market share between July 2025 and Oct 2025.The divergence between slower growth in value and faster growth in volumes suggests a shift towards smaller, more frequent transactions. Average ticket sizes fell across channels, reinforcing the trend of credit cards being used increasingly for everyday payments rather than only large discretionary purchases, aided by their wider use on UPI platforms. Industry participants said the Nov slowdown reflected a normalisation after an unusually strong festive month rather than a weakening in underlying demand. With the wedding season and year-end travel picking up in Dec, spending momentum is expected to improve after a brief pause.“Transaction volumes declined by 3% MoM but increased 27.3% YoY, however, on a lower base. Among major banks, all reported a decline in volumes on a monthly basis. Axis Bank saw the sharpest decline at 7%, followed by SBI at 5%, and HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank at 3% each. Similar to spending trends, Federal Bank stood out with a 39% MoM increase in transaction volumes, resulting in a 46 basis point market share gain, from 1.1% to 1.5%. Axis Bank was the biggest market share loser, declining by 56 basis points, from 14.8% to 14.2%,” said Tiwari in a report.