Total Number of Card Transactions In India by Quarter

The above graph represents the total number of card transactions in India by quarter, starting from fiscal Q1 2005 to fiscal Q1 2020. The total card transactions include the debit and credit card transactions completed in a given period of time. Total 4,137.41 million transactions were completed through either debit or credit cards in India during June quarter (Q1 2020).

RegionIndia
SourceReserve Bank of India (RBI)
Last Updated16 August 2019
Graph ID433
NoteIndia’s Fiscal Year – April 01 – March 31

This’s a small 1% decline from Q4 2019, ended March 31, 2018, when India recorded total 4,183.23 million card transactions. About 1,462.26 million card transactions were recorded in the month of March 2019 – the highest-ever till date, in a single month.

It is important to note that the highest number of card transactions in India was recorded in fiscal Q3 2019 (Oct-Dec 2018). In fact, it was the first time in Q3 when the total card transactions in India crossed 4 billion (4,247.04 million to be specific) mark, with 23.3% YoY growth. Out of that, nearly 1460.21 million number of transactions were completed alone in the month of December.

Similarly, during Q3 2017, the usage of cards (both credit and debit cards) at POS and ATMs increased in the country. The total card transactions increased an impressive 19% YoY in volume, to 3,090.67 million.

Note: RBI started releasing the data for Credit and Debit cards usage at ATMs from April 2011 (fiscal Q1 2012). Before that, the total number of Credit/Debit card transactions includes only Credit/Debit usages at POS, not usage at ATMs. That’s the reason an astonishing 821.9% QoQ growth can be seen in the total number of card transactions in India – increased from just 133.29 million in Q4 2011 to 1338.76 million in Q1 2012.

Digital Transactions In India: Additional Information

The internet revolution has resulted in exploded adoption of digital methods of transactions worldwide. The users of Credit & Debit cards, mobile and internet nowadays are far more aware and digitally empowered with making financial transactions. In the last few years, however, digital transactions have branched out into multiple types of financial transactions.

Started with the use of Credit and Debit cards at POS in large retail stores, digital transactions industry has come a long way. The introduction of mobile wallets and UPI have transformed the whole digital transaction industry in India. RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement), NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer), CTS (Cheque Truncation System), IMPS (Immediate Payment Service), NACH (National Automated Clearing House), UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and PPI (Prepaid Payment Instruments) are the main type of financial transactions that fall under the Digital transaction category.

Digital transactions save time and money, resulting in a better bottom line. Customer experiences are also enhanced (think of the convenience of eSigning versus having to print a contract, sign it, and then return it by mail or fax). And digital transactions improve tracking capabilities, which helps reduce errors.

The exploded adoption of smartphones, mobile apps and mobile internet has helped Digital transaction industry to grow at an unprecedented rate. With more than 500 million smartphone users, India is one of the largest countries by the number of digital transactions that are recorded every month.


The above graph is a part of Dazeinfo GraphFarm – the most trusted source of hundreds of thousands of market graphs. Our team of researchers mines millions of data points every month to bring the most updated and validated set of data points representing the comprehensive view in a graphical format. From mobile to e-commerce, from Retail to healthcare, from startups to SMEs we have carefully designed thousands of graphs for those who value and understand the importance of data visualisation.