reserve Bank of India ,reserve Bank of India) idle shutdown command Credit Cards continue to negatively impact the size of the industry, as with top tier lenders. HDFC bank, axis Bank And ICICI Bank There is a decline in the number of active credit cards.

Private lender HDFC Bank was the worst hit, with total cards falling 1.6 million month on month. bankers say while the total Credit Card The numbers will be back to normal soon, they are also looking to change the strategy regarding onboarding customers.

“It is about a clear intention to use the card,” said Parag Rao, Country Head – Payments, consumer finance, Technology & Digital Banking, HDFC Bank. “This is also the time when fees need to come back because you don’t use whatever you get for free. It is really time to get back fees because customers really see the real value only when they see something like that. pay for the thing.”

Rao said the overall industry may see a decline of 8-9% in the total credit cards applied.

The central bank rule states that if the credit card has not been used for more than a year, the process of closure of the card will be initiated after informing the cardholder. If no response is received from the Cardholder within 30 days, the Card Account will be closed subject to payment of all dues by the Card issuer. The RBI rule came into effect in July.

Although the downward trend continued in September, the decline was less sharp than in August. Total credit cards fell 0.3 million in September compared to 2.3 million in August. While total credit cards stood at around 80.3 million at the end of July, it dropped to 78 million in August and 77.7 million in September.

On an individual basis, HDFC Bank deactivated around 2.4 million cards that were inactive for a certain period during Q2FY23 as well as added 1.2 million new credit cards, taking its card portfolio to around 16.3 million. HDFC Bank is also losing market share in the outstanding portfolio of cards and has lost nearly 200 bps in the last year, down from 23% in September 2021 to 21% in September 2022. In September, Axis Bank deactivated 1.1 million credit cards while ICICI Bank closed down. 0.4 million cards.

“The number of new credit cards added to the overall card portfolio remained negative for the second consecutive month, down 2.6 million in two months,” said company analyst Bunty Chawla. IDBI Capital,

“We expect the trend to continue for some more time, led by players reporting inactive card details.”