Credit issuing in India is increasing with every financial year. The main reason is the craze that it has among the youth of the nation. With annual growth in the span of 6 years 2015 to 2021, the credit card is one of the promising industries in the country. And it is expected that this growth would be expanded to 39.22% in the financial years 2022 to 2027. According to some studies, around 5.5 lakh credit cards were issued in the country and now the total credit card base in the country had reached 7.3 crores in an 18% growth base in around 12 months.
As the economy once again is getting back on track, the credit card industry is expected to regain its momentum as a result of the enhanced purchasing power of prospective cardholders. The Indian market still has great room for growth as currently there are only 5.5 credit cards for every 100 people in the year 2021. Now with the changing trends, the credit card industry is now expected to grow even more as several cards issuing authorities or banks have linked the same to UPI. However, digital e-wallets and buy now pay later options are still one of the major competitors for credit cards in the country.
Here is the list of major and popular card issuers in the country in every category including shopping, entertainment, and many other.
HDFC Bank
As per the report issued in June 2022, HDFC Bank is the largest card Issuer in the country, and not only that it is the largest private sector financial institution in the country in terms of assets and market capitalization. Back in 2020, RBI Imposed a short-term ban on credit cards on the bank service prohibiting them to issue cards to new card customers in India. This ban was lifted soon after now the bank is allowed to issue new credit cards in the country. Now the bank had launched new co-branded credit cards with Paytm and Emirates. Some of the popular credit cards include HDFC Infinia Credit Card, HDFC Bank Diners Club Credit, and HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card.
Yes Bank
This was founded back in 2003 and it is one of the most popular private banks in the country. The bank faced financial up and down and RBI Imposed a 30-day suspension on the activities of the bank. In 2020, Yes bank was taken over by SBI (30 % Stake in the bank). As far as the credit cards are concerned, as per RBI data, as of June 2022, there are around 12 Lakh active Yes Bank credit cards in the country.
Axis Bank
It is the third largest private sector financial institution after HDFC and ICICI. The bank was founded in 1993 and its headquarters are in Mumbai. As of 2022, the bank is having 22 lakh active credit cards making it the third largest card issuer in the country after HDFC and ICICI.
Axis Bank Burgundy Private Credit Card and Axis Magnus Credit Card are two supreme cards offered by the bank. Axis bank also offers the best credit cards for travel having collaboration with Air Vistara.
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank India is a subsidiary organization of the London-based Standard Chartered Bank. The bank was established in 1969 as a result of the merging of two international and highly recognized banks The chartered bank of India, Australia, China, and Standard Bank of British South Africa.
The Bank has offered many credit cards to the Indian market from travel to shopping and lifestyle to premium. With over 13 Lakh active credit cards, standard charted is the third-largest foreign card issuer in the country.
IDBI Bank
IDBI is the largest public-sector commercial bank in India. It is a subsidiary of LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India). The bank entered the credit card market back in 2014 and it offers five credit cards in Indian Market. And according to a report issued in 2020, the bank currently holds over 15k Cardholders.
RBL Bank
RBL is a small private bank headquartered in Mumbai. The bank currently offers a wide range of credit cards in its portfolio and has over 39 lakh active credit cards as of June 2022. It also introduced a credit card in collaboration with Zomato, making it the best dining card in the Indian Credit Card market.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Kotak Mahindra is yet another private-sector card issuer in India. As of 2022, it has over 38 lakh active credit cardholders and around 12 lahks are added last year only. Kotak Mahindra also offers co-branded credits card in collaboration with PVR providing multiple benefits for films.
American Express
It is a US-based credit card issuer offering a range of credit cards. American Express is not a card issuer but also a card processing network (Just like Visa and Mastercard) and offers collaboration cards just like ICICI bank. It has over 13 Lakh active credit cards as of 2022.
IndusInd Bank
This was founded in April 1994 and it is one of the prominent banks in the country. The bank had its head Branch in Pune. With more than 2,000 branches, the bank has 20 lakh active credit cardholders as of 2022. The bank has currently 17 credit cards in its portfolio. The bank also issued a co-branded credit card with EazyDiner which is a major attraction among customers for a fine dining experience and to enjoy maximum discounts.
HSBC Bank
HSBC is India’s Second oldest foreign bank. The bank commenced its operations in India in 1958 when it mercantile Bank of India. HSBC was the first bank to introduce an ATM service in the country. As of 2022, the bank has 8 lakh active credit card holders.
Union Bank of India
Union Bank of India is another prominent public sector bank in the country. The bank become the largest PSU bank in terms of branches after its merger with Corporation and Andhra Bank in 2020. And as of 2022, there are over 5.5 active credit card holders.
Canara Bank
Canara Bank is yet another PSU bank in the country. The bank was established in 1906 and was nationalized in 1963. The bank began issuing credit cards in 2002. As of June 2022, there are over 9.2 lahks active Canara Bank Credit cards in the country.
Federal Bank
Federal bank is another major private bank having headquarters in Kochi. The bank has a customer of over 10 million and more than 1250 spread across different states in India. As of June 2022, there are over 2.3 lakh active cardholders in the country.
Punjab National Bank (PNB)
Punjab National Bank is the second largest public sector bank in the country after SBI. Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India were merged into PNB in April 2021. As of 2022, there are over 3.3 Lakh active PNB Credit Card holders.
Citi Bank
Citibank is a subsidiary of US-based Citigroup and it announced that it is about to exit the retail banking business in India along with 12 other nations. However, the bank later reconciled and continues to serve its customers. The bank also assured that it would not shut down its operations in India. Instead, it is looking for a potential buyer to sell off its retail business.
Bank of Baroda
It is the fourth-largest nationalized bank in the country. In 2018, the bank merged with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank in September 2018. Currently, there are over 13 lakh active users of BOB and it is one of the most trusted Public sector banks in the country. Currently, the bank has over 13 lakh active credit card holders and the numbers have increased in just 6 years.
IDFC First Bank
IDFC first is the latest player in the credit card space. The bank was established after the successful merging of IDFC Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of IDFC Ltd and Capital First bank in 2018. As of June 2022, the IDFC First Bank has over 9.6 active card holders in India.