Why not credit cards for NBFCs? A tale of tears behind the plastic smile

Retailing has been transformed in recent years, but the central bank still hasn't allowed NBFCs to issue credit cards

It is not the best-kept secret that India has the lowest “credit-card activation rate” in the world. Over 50 per cent of cards are not activated by customers within the first 90 days of issuance. And, compared to the 550 million customers with credit histories, only 67 million carry plastic in their wallets.

Moreover, these 67 million are not “unique customers” — over 50 per cent of them have more than one card. The average per-card spend is about Rs 3,000 per month, and this is also misleading, as it rides on the back of a relatively small number of high