Indians Show A Repayment Problem, Credit Card Defaults Jump To 15%
A clear spike in the 90+ category shows that the defaulters have continued to remain in default after the last assessment.
For every Rs 100 owed by Indians with credit card debt as of March 2025, Rs 15 is not being repaid even after 90 days of default.
According to data from CRIF Highmark, the default rate on credit card debt overdue for more than 90 days has risen to 15% as of March 2025, compared with 12.5% in March 2024 and 12.6% in March 2023.
The rising credit card defaults were only in the 90 plus days past due category though, with the ratio of debt under 31-90 days past due date falling to 2.1% in FY25, compared with 2.3% a year ago. Similarly, credit card debt under 30 days past due constituted 2.7% of the debt in the last fiscal, compared with 3.9% a year before.
The data points to a rising trend of customers being unable to repay their dues.
While CRIF Highmark believes that the lower delinquency rates in the 1-90 days past due categories points to better credit behaviour, a clear spike in the 90+ category shows that the defaulters have continued to remain in default after the last assessment.
The rise in default rates has clearly led to a drop in fresh card issuances last year, data from CRIF Highmark shows. Between FY24 and FY25, new card issuances have dropped over 26% to 2.16 crore. Private banks continue to remain the largest issuers with over 70% market share in incremental cards issued.
Another reason behind the lower issuances in FY25 was the Reserve Bank of India's increased risk weights on credit card loans, which came into effect from November 2023.
