HDFC Financial institution is pulling away from the pack. The most important non-public sector lender within the nation elevated its share of excellent playing cards to 22.2% in March from 21.7% a yr earlier, whereas its dominance in spending intensified, with a rise in transaction worth share to 29.8%, underscoring its skill to drive greater utilization amongst its current cardholders.
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SBI Playing cards held its floor at 18.7% of playing cards in use, and gained meaningfully in spends, with transaction worth share climbing to 19.3%. ICICI Financial institution and Axis Financial institution noticed some moderation of their market positions in the course of the month. Whereas ICICI Financial institution’s share of excellent playing cards, transaction worth and quantity declined regularly, Axis Financial institution maintained a broadly steady card base at the same time as its share of transaction quantity fell marginally.
“The bank card base expanded from 11 crore in March 2025 to 11.9 crore in March 2026, reflecting continued deepening of card penetration throughout the system,” stated Saurabh Bhalerao, affiliate director, BFSI Analysis, CareEdge Rankings. “Regardless of this broad-based growth, the market construction stays extremely concentrated-a restricted set of dominant issuers, primarily three giant non-public sector banks and 5 main public sector banks, collectively account for almost 80% of playing cards in circulation.”
ET Bureauplastic cash HDFC will increase share, SBI holds floor as 8 banks account for 80% of playing cards in use
The overall excellent bank card base expanded 8% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month in March. Public sector banks led the cost with an 11.3% year-on-year development, whereas non-public banks recorded 8.3% growth, reflecting selective development amid evolving danger issues. International banks continued to rationalise their portfolios, with excellent playing cards declining 5.4% year-on-year.The private-public divide grew to become extra pronounced in spending patterns as properly. Personal banks accounted for 72.6% of whole card spending in March, however their share fell 3.15 proportion factors year-on-year, evaluation by Care Rankings confirmed. Common spending per card at non-public banks fell 4% to ₹18,948, pointing to some moderation in high-value discretionary utilization.
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Public sector banks, in the meantime, recorded a wholesome 17% improve in per-card spending to ₹16,847, pushed by improved buyer engagement and the rising use of Unified Funds Interface (UPI)-linked credit score -with their deepening penetration into tier-2 and tier-3 markets fuelling incremental buyer acquisition.
“PSU (public sector enterprise) banks have been capable of drive development on the again of their wider distribution networks and rising traction from co-branded partnerships with e-commerce and fintech platforms,” stated Prakash Agarwal, companion at Gefion Capital.
