Credit card NPAs rise 28.4% to ₹6,742 crore in 2023-24

CREDIT CARD USAGE has gone up significantly in the last three years, driven by increased consumer spending and the growing popularity of digital payments.

- GEORGE MATHEW

CREDIT CARD USAGE has gone up significantly in the last three years, driven by increased consumer spending and the growing popularity of digital payments. However, non-performing assets (NPAs), or the amount defaulted by customers, in the credit card segment have also risen by 28.42% to ₹6,742 crore during the 12-month period ended December 2024, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

The RBI data shows that gross NPAs rose from ₹5,250 crore in December 2023 to the current level, a rise of nearly ₹1,500 crore, amid a slowdown in the economy. This works out to 2.3% of the gross loan outstanding of ₹2.92 lakh crore in the credit card segment of commercial banks in December 2024 as against 2.06% of ₹2.53 lakh crore credit card outstanding in the previous year.