The card payments market in India is set to grow by 9.4% in 2025 to reach Rs 30.1 trillion ($358 billion), fuelled by regulatory developments, improving infrastructure, and evolving consumer preferences, according to GlobalData.

 
“India’s card payments market is expanding steadily on the back of large-scale financial inclusion programs, regulatory support, and infrastructure-building schemes,” said GlobalData lead banking and payments analyst Ravi Sharma in a release. “The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has significantly raised the banked population, while measures such as reduced merchant fees, the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), and permitting non-banking financial companies to offer banking services are collectively nudging consumers and merchants towards electronic payments.”
 
India’s higher credit card spending reflects shifting consumer behaviour, beyond the country’s metros and into more rural areas. Debit cards remain the most widely held payment cards in India and represent an entryway into future electronic payments for many non-metro consumers, but credit cards are gaining popularity due to the rewards they offer shoppers. The Reserve Bank of India recently increased ATM fees and this could indirectly promote a shift from cash withdrawals to digital payments for shoppers, according to GlobalData.

“Looking ahead, India’s card payments market will continue to benefit from sustained financial inclusion efforts, ongoing infrastructure investments through schemes like PIDF, and the growing use of cards in ecommerce and transit,” said Sharma. “Although competitive pressure from mobile wallet payments will remain intense, supportive regulation, expanding acceptance networks, and attractive value-added benefits- especially on credit cards and domestic scheme products- will underpin healthy double-digit expansion in transaction value over 2025–29.”