Credit, Debit Cards In Circulation Breach 1 Billion Mark In India: Report

As digital payments rise in India, the total number of credit and debit cards in circulation breached the one billion mark in 2021, according to a survey. It is part of the Digital Payments Report released by Worldline India.

The report also said that out of the total cards in circulation, credit cards represented a 7 per cent market share, while debit cards accounted for 93 per cent market share. Private sector banks issued the highest number of credit cards - 67 per cent - while public sector banks accounted for 24 per cent, the report further said.

The top three banks to issue the highest number of credit cards are HDFC, SBI and ICICI.

Analysing the transactions available in public databases, the report further said that UPI payments clocked over 4.57 billion transactions in volume in the year 2021, registering a growth of 105 per cent in volume and 111 per cent in value as compared to 2020.

Talking about the BHIM app, the Worldline report said that it has been downloaded over 185 million times as of October 29, 2021.

“Consumers are embracing digital payments like never before. While the industry has been successful in creating habit-forming bouquet of e-payment options like UPI, Cards, PPIs and emerging payment modes like Bharat BillPay, NETC FAST tags among others, the acceptance infrastructure is now gradually sprouting,” said Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director, Worldline South Asia and Middle East.

October and December were the months with highest number of transactions in volume and value owing to the festive quarter and relaxations in COVID-19 restrictions across the country, said Worldline report.

In the online space, e-commerce, gaming, utility and financial services contributed to over 87 per cent transaction in terms of volume and 41 per cent in value in 2021, it further said.

Worldline is a European payments and transactional services company, which has offices in more than 50 countries. In India, Worldline covers the whole payment value chain and end-to-end processes that facilitate services to over 1.5 million merchants across 5,000 towns and cities.