Consumers are not warming up to credit cards like before.

In December, the central bank had barred HDFC Bank from issuing new cards because of various service outages.

While HDFC Bank has been barred from onboarding new customers, its rivals have not been able to take advantage of the curbs to expand their credit card base.

HDFC Bank remains the largest player with 1.49 crore cards as of April 30 against 1.54 crore outstanding cards in November 2020.

According to the Digital Payments report of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Amex and Citi reported a fall in their outstanding cards till April.

Others such as ICICI Bank reported a strong year-on-year growth of 18 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank (15.2 per cent), RBL Bank (14.4 per cent), and SBI Cards (13.6 per cent).

Sources said the lockdown may have played a part in some of the banks showing a drop in the number of outstanding cards, but they can catch up once the restrictions are lifted.

The lockdown also had its impact on another front with card spends falling 18 per cent to Rs 59,400 crore in April. On a per card basis, the monthly spend declined to Rs 9,500 from an average of Rs 10,500 over the past six months.