The debit and credit card transactions have jumped to Rs 74,090 crore in September this year, up a hefty 84%, as compared to the same month last year, when it stood at Rs 40,130 crore, thanks to the government push for non-cash payments, says a study.
The transaction volume at all points of sale (POS) clipped higher by 86% to 378 million in September this year, over the same period last year, when it stood at 203 million, European payment solutions provider Worldline said in a weekend report quoting Reserve Bank data.
In September 2016, the number stood at 203 million, it added. “With demonetisation, people were pushed to use non-cash modes of payment for everyday expenses. Even after the cash is back to the pre-demonetisation levels, there is visible growth in card transactions,” Deepak Chandnani, chief executive of Worldline South Asia & Middle East, said.
The push to increase cards usage started with the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in August 2014, the survey said. Total number of cards as of September 2017 stood at 853 million.
Of this, 33.3 million were credit cards and 819.8 million were debit cards. There was a marked spurt, especially for debit cards, which shot by 39% in 2015, because of the new Jan Dhan accounts. Post-demonetisation, growth has been averaging at 22%, the survey added.
The growth of credit cards from 2016 to 2017 has been 24%, higher than the average growth, but consistent with the trend of the past few years, the study said. Between 2011 and 2016, credit cards have seen a steady 9% increase.
Digital payment companies have seen a substantial jump in business, following the government’s push towards cashless transactions after the note ban last November, and the major contributor to this growth was online payments.
