The number of credit and debit cards in India is steadily rising but Indians still prefer debit cards over credit cards. In September 2015, a total of 22.45 million credit cards and 603.35 million debit cards were in operation, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Between September 2014 and September 2015, India added some 0.12 million credit cards and 4.84 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. Some observations: 1. Number of transactions on credit cards grew by 24% while it rose by 39% for debit cards for the year ending September 2015. In September, total number of transactions through credit cards were 62.42 million while the figure for debit cards was 90.02 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 — increased marginally by 0.68% between September 2014 and September 2015. For debit cards, it declined by 13.50% during the same time period. 3. Total amount transacted through credit cards — which was Rs 19022 crore in September 2015 — increased by 25% in the one year period ending September 2015. Amount transacted through debit cards increased by 20% during the same time. In September 2015, Rs 11679 crore were transacted through debit cards. 4. Total amount transacted through credit cards fell by Rs 891 crore in September 2015. The decline in debit cards was steeper with Rs 1877.40 crore. **Data on Point…
