The number of credit and debit cards in India is steadily rising but Indians still prefer debit cards over credit cards. In March 2016, a total of 24.51 million credit cards and 661.8 million debit cards were in operation, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Between March 2015 and March 2016, India added some 0.38 million credit cards and added 3.44 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 27% while it rose by 48% for debit cards for the year ending March 2016. In March, total number of transactions through credit cards were 72.22 million while the figure for debit cards was 112.87 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 marginally by 0.1% between March 2015 and March 2016. For debit cards, it declined by 16.2% during the same time period. 3. Total amount transacted through credit cards — which was Rs 22694 crore in March 2016 — increased by 27% in the one year period ending March 2016. Amount transacted through debit cards increased by 24% during the same time. In March 2016, Rs 13463 crore were transacted through debit cards. 4. Total amount transacted through credit cards went…
