The number of credit and debit cards in India is steadily rising but Indians still prefer debit cards over credit cards. In December 2015, a total of 22.74 million credit cards and 643.19 million debit cards were in operation, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Between December 2014 and December 2015, India added some 0.26 million credit cards and 18.56 million debit cards. While the number of cards is increasing slowly, people are gradually becoming more comfortable in using them as well, and there's an increase in their usage. 1. Number of transactions on credit cards grew by 24% while it rose by 47% for debit cards for the year ending December 2015. In December 2015, total number of transactions through credit cards were 69.36 million while the figure for debit cards was 108.11 million. 2. Average amount transacted per transaction on credit cards — which is an indication of how much amount people are willing to spend in one transaction — decreased by 0.28% between December 2014 and December 2015. For debit cards, it declined by 10.55% during the same time period. 3. Total amount transacted through credit cards — which was Rs 21,194 crore in December 2015 — increased by 23% in the one year period ending December 2015. Amount transacted through debit cards increased by 31% during the same time. In December 2015, Rs 14,583 crore were transacted through debit cards. 4. Total amount transacted through credit cards grew by Rs 425 crore in December 2015 while it declined by Rs…
