Online shopping drives credit card spends to Rs 2.08 lakh cr in July: Equirus
E-commerce spending per credit card stood at ₹10,772 in July, significantly higher than POS spending, while the total credit card base crossed 12.29 crore.
Credit cards accounted for 17.7 per cent of total digital payments to merchants during the month.
E-commerce spending accounted for 63.6 per cent of total credit card spends in July 2026, up from 63.1 per cent in June, reflecting the continued shift in consumer spending towards online channels, according to an analysis by Equirus Securities.
Average monthly e-commerce spending per credit card stood at ₹10,772 in July, significantly higher than the ₹6,165 average POS spending. The average e-commerce transaction size was also higher at around ₹4,301, compared with ₹2,579 for POS transactions, the report said.
Overall credit card spends rose 7.4 per cent year-on-year and 3.4 per cent month-on-month to ₹2.08 lakh crore in July 2026. Credit cards accounted for 17.7 per cent of total digital payments to merchants during the month.
The credit card base also continued to expand, with Cards in Force increasing by 1.27 million in July to 122.9 million. HDFC Bank added the highest number of cards during the month at 230,000, followed by SBI Cards at 183,000 and ICICI Bank at 170,000. Federal Bank, IDFC First Bank and Axis Bank added 108,000, 83,000 and 70,000 cards, respectively.
HDFC Bank continued to lead credit card spends with a 28.9 per cent market share, followed by SBI Cards at 19.0 per cent, ICICI Bank at 16.4 per cent and Axis Bank at 11.4 per cent in July. ICICI Bank gained 75 basis points of spends market share month-on-month, while Axis Bank gained 43 basis points.
The report also noted that average monthly transactions per credit card increased to 4.90 in July from 4.75 in June, with e-commerce transactions rising to 2.50 per card from 2.40 and POS transactions increasing to 2.39 from 2.35.
Debit card spending, meanwhile, remained comparatively subdued, declining 0.8 per cent year-on-year although it rose 7.4 per cent month-on-month in July. State Bank of India accounted for 23.4 per cent of total debit card spends, down 21 basis points from June.
The prepaid segment recorded stronger growth, with purchases of goods and services through prepaid cards and wallets rising 41.1 per cent year-on-year and 4.3 per cent month-on-month to ₹20,300 crore in July. Of this, prepaid cards accounted for around ₹6,600 crore and wallets ₹13,700 crore.
Overall, digital payments to merchants rose 19.6 per cent year-on-year and 5.0 per cent month-on-month to ₹11.73 lakh crore in July 2026. UPI-P2M remained the dominant mode, with spends rising 23.5 per cent year-on-year to ₹9.07 lakh crore and accounting for 77.3 per cent of total digital payments to merchants.
