India’s digital payments landscape continues to evolve, with credit cards maintaining strong growth even as UPI dominates everyday transactions. According to CareEdge Ratings, UPI remains the preferred choice for small-value payments, while credit cards continue to play a key role in higher-value purchases and transactions that require access to credit.
Credit card spending remained above the Rs 2 lakh crore mark in June 2026, reaching Rs 2.02 lakh crore, reflecting a 10% year-on-year increase. During the same period, the total number of credit cards in circulation crossed 12.16 crore, marking a 9.3% year-on-year growth.
The spending pattern shows that online transactions accounted for the largest share at Rs 1.27 lakh crore, representing 63% of total credit card spending. Point-of-sale transactions contributed Rs 74,262 crore, making up 36.8% of overall spending. Both online and offline transactions recorded nearly 10% year-on-year growth in June.
Public sector banks also strengthened their presence in the credit card market. Their card spending increased by 33% year-on-year, significantly higher than the 3.9% growth recorded by private sector banks. The growth was seen across both online and offline transactions, indicating stronger customer adoption beyond new card issuance.
According to CareEdge Ratings, UPI and credit cards are gradually taking on distinct roles within India’s payments ecosystem. UPI continues to lead routine and low-value transactions, while credit cards remain the preferred option for larger purchases, discretionary spending and transactions backed by credit.
Going forward, the report suggests that growth in the credit card segment will depend not only on issuing more cards but also on encouraging higher usage among existing customers.
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