Cumulative number of credit cards issued in India FY 2013-2022

In financial year 2022, nearly 73 million credit cards were issued in India. The cumulative number of cards increased constantly in recent years and even recovered quickly from falling numbers during the lockdown from the end of March to the end of May 2020, amidst the first wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

India’s credit card market

In India, credit cards came in vogue only after the market liberalizations of the 1990s and the diversification of the banking sector. Around 78 public, private, and foreign banks as well as numerous smaller cooperative and regional rural banks were operating in 2022. In 2020, India ranked 11th on the list of countries with the most credit cards in use, far behind the United States with over one billion cards.

Debit card market

Debit cards are a very popular form or payment in India with an estimated number of more than 907 million cards in use. Value of debit card transactions amounted to around three trillion Indian rupees in June 2022. India's debit card penetration is estimated to be around 34 percent in 2023.