HDFC Bank Surpasses Peers In New Credit Card Additions In July

HDFC Bank Ltd. has topped the charts with its net credit card additions growing to nearly 4 lakh in July. This is the highest credit card additions by the bank after the Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions in December 2020, citing technology concerns at the lender.

In July, India's largest private sector bank added nearly 4 lakh credit cards, taking the total number of cards issued to 2.17 crore, RBI data showed.

In comparison, Axis Bank Ltd. added 1.54 lakh credit cards, followed by ICICI Bank Ltd. at 1.44 lakh, and SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. added 98,000 cards.

HDFC Bank is showing a strong intent to make a comeback in the credit card space, with its market share in net credit card additions rising rapidly in April-July, according to brokerages.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer in terms cards-in-force market share, with an increase of 15 basis points on year in April-July, while ICICI Bank lost its market share by 3 basis points. Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. also shed by 20 bps and 66 bps, respectively, according to a report by Axis Securities.

Cards-in-force is the total number of credit or debit cards issued by a financial institution that are presently active and in use by cardholders.

HDFC Bank's market share in net credit card additions rose to 31.4%, 38.0%, 43.3%, and 52.8% in the first four months of the current financial year, respectively, Yes Securities said in a report. This is higher than 17.9% in January-September of 2023, 16.6% in September-December of 2023, and 24.6% so far in 2024.

However, in terms of credit card spends, HDFC Bank's market share has declined to 26.2% so far in 2024, compared with 28.0% in January-September of 2023 and 26.5% in September-December of 2023. As of July, the bank's spending market share was 25.7%. It was superseded by ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank in this regard.