India: 10-15% of cards used for online transactions

Findings from financial services provider Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indicate that credit cards are predominant in the discretionary category while debit cards have the lead in expenses such as utility payments. India is one of the fastest-growing countries in the plastic money segment, with close to 350 million debit cards and 19 million credit cards in circulation.

The same source mentions that debit cards entered India in 1998 and they currently account for almost 95% of the total number of cards in circulation. Credit cards have shown relatively slower growth even though they entered the market one decade before debit cards.

The results show that, in what concerns electronic payments, the following domains prevail: rail and airfare with a 71% share, followed by durable goods with 61%, rent (49%), tele/mobile (47%), medical institutions (46%), and clothing or footwear with a 44% stake.

The RBI report quoted two studies of MasterCard and Visa.

According to the MasterCard survey, card payments are mainly concentrated in large cities, with a 43% presence in Delhi, Mumbai and their suburbs alone.