GST 2.0: Credit card spends up fivefold in 3 days

CONSUMER SPENDING THROUGH credit cards saw a big jump in the first three days of implementation of GST 2.0, industry players told FE.

- MAHESH NAYAK

According to lenders, there has been a fivefold rise in the daily average spending to ₹20,000-25,000 crore from the usual ₹5,000-6,000 crore.

For SBI Card, consumer spending was seen in discretionary and non-discretionary categories, said Salila Pande, MD & CEO at SBI Card, adding that she expects this upward trend to continue throughout the festive season.

Bikram Yadav, head-credit cards at RBL Bank, said: “We have seen a sharp 20% increase in customer demand over the past couple of days, driven primarily by the recent GST relief and the resulting positive market sentiment. This uplift reflects growing consumer confidence and a readiness to spend ahead of the festive season.”

Besides the rollout of tax reforms, aggressive e-commerce festive sales programmes also contributed to the boom.

"SEPTEMBER'S DATA FOR the last three days show a fivefold jump signalling a potent mix of policy reform and marketled activation, setting the stage for a robust Q3 in retail finance," said a source at NPCI, India's retail payment and settlement system.