India's credit card sector has crossed the 120 million active cards milestone in May 2026, with net additions surging 34% year-on-year to 1.02 million cards. According to RBI data reported by The Economic Times, this represents a 26.9% jump month-on-month from April 2026, indicating robust expansion in the cardholder base. Total cards in force stood at 120.45 million, up 8.3% year-on-year from 111.20 million in May 2025. As per Sweta Padhi, analyst at IDBI Capital, "Industry growth continues to remain in the high single-digit range, with issuers maintaining a calibrated approach towards unsecured lending amid tighter underwriting standards and regulatory oversight." She also notes that "ongoing reward devaluations and spend linked benefit structures across major issuers indicate continued focus on profitability and cost rationalisation."
Credit card spends surged 6.6% year-on-year to ₹2.02 trillion in May 2026, marking a significant recovery after a 10.1% month-on-month decline in April, as reported by Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Limited. The sequential increase comes after a 10.1% on-month decline in April, indicating that the recovery is not yet strong or structural. Transaction volumes stood at 587 million, increasing 5.7% sequentially and 25.8% annually, with the sequential recovery largely attributable to the sharp decline witnessed in April. Average spend per card eased 1.8% year-on-year and increased 1.7% sequentially, while average spend per transaction declined 3% month-on-month and 15% year-on-year, continuing its downward trajectory due to increase in low value transactions. SBI Cards was the clear exception with per-card spend up 12% year-on-year, lifted by higher corporate spending.
SBI Cards emerged as the top card issuer in May, adding 181,851 net new cards — its strongest monthly performance in the recent series — overtaking ICICI Bank which had topped the chart in April. According to The Economic Times, ICICI Bank came second with 168,344 additions, followed by HDFC Bank at 142,297 cards. IDFC First Bank and Federal Bank maintained their strong mid-tier momentum, adding 87,227 and 106,861 cards, respectively. Federal Bank crossed the one lakh addition mark for the third consecutive month with 106,861 cards, while Axis Bank added 52,328 cards and Kotak Mahindra Bank bounced back strongly with 54,000 additions — a 6% sequential jump from 33,038 in April. SBI Cards' total cards in force reached nearly 22.42 million, while ICICI Bank's total cards stood at 19.4 million and HDFC Bank's at 26.58 million.
The top four banks accounted for only 63.7% of incremental spending during May despite holding an industry market share of roughly 76% in spends, as noted by Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Limited. Among the top four banks, all broadly matched the industry's sequential growth except HDFC Bank, which grew by 4.2%. Total cards in force increased to 120.5 million, with YoY growth accelerating to 8.7%, the highest recorded in the past 15 months. The industry added 1 million new cards during May, marking the second-highest monthly card issuance in the past 27 months. An industry expert noted that "credit card spending is likely to remain in single-digit growth for the rest of the calendar year, while monthly net card additions are expected to stay close to one million."
