Active credit cards drop 2.3 million in August over new RBI norms

Spends decline 3% MoM but top Rs 1 trn for sixth consecutive month

The outstanding credit card base dropped to 77.99 million in August from over 80 million in July, mainly on account of the new norms of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that warrant the deactivation of cards that are inactive for a year. 

While there was a 2.8 per cent decline in net card additions on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in August, a first in many months, credit card spends slipped 3 per cent on a high base. Still, spends topped the Rs 1-trillion mark for the sixth consecutive month.

The banking system had been adding about 1-1.5 million cards