Half of India’s New-To-Credit Card Consumers are Gen Z and Reside Beyond Metros

• Credit card ownership in India crossed 5.2 crore consumers in 2026, up 3.6x from 2016
• Outstanding credit card balances rose 8.3x to ₹3.1 lakh crore over the last decade
• 50% of new-to-credit card (NTCC) consumers were Gen Z (aged 30 years or below) as of March 2026, and 46% of NTCC resided within semi-urban and rural markets, reflecting early adoption and deeper geographic expansion of credit cards

Mumbai: India’s first-time credit cardholders or New-To-Credit-Card (NTCC) are younger and more broadly geographically distributed, according to TransUnion CIBIL’s latest research whitepaper, Beyond the Swipe 2026: How India Uses Card as a Credit Instrument. As of March 2026, 50% of NTCC consumers were aged 30 years or below[1], up from 43% in March 2022, while 46% resided within semi-urban and rural markets, up from 42%, during the same period.

NTCC consumers are entering the card market with a more active credit profile. The whitepaper found that 25% of NTCC consumers already had three or more open credit products, suggesting that for many consumers, the first credit card is being added to an existing credit wallet, and not necessarily an entry product. Compared to the United Kingdom at 70%, Colombia at 62% and Hong Kong at 98%, India’s credit card penetration at 25% of credit-active consumers, as of March 2026, is lower than several mature and emerging credit markets. The current low penetration rate along with the promising demographic participation clearly indicates an opportunity to grow the card portfolios responsibly.

A Ten-Year Sweep of India’s Credit Card Market

India’s credit card market has expanded significantly over the last decade, across the number of cards, consumers and balances. Between March 2016 and March 2026, the number of cardholders grew 3.6x from 1.4 crore to 5.2 crore. Outstanding card balances rose at a faster pace, growing 8.3x from ₹0.4 lakh crore to ₹3.1 lakh crore, with active credit cards growing 5x from 2.1 crore to 10.7 crore.

The decade-long view also shows deeper card engagement within the cardholder base, with the average card balance per consumer increasing from ₹31,000 to ₹65,000.

Chart 1: Growth in Credit Card Balances Over 10-Year Period

Card Growth Continues as Wallets Become More Diversified

As the credit card market expanded over the last ten years, cardholders also began carrying a wider mix of credit products. Active credit cards accounted for 56% of consumption-led credit accounts in March 2016. By March 2026, that share stood at 38%. Card balances as a share of consumption-led credit balances in the industry also moved from 36% to 26% over the same period.

The role of cards in consumers’ wallets has changed as well. The share of card-only in the wallet consumers declined from 50% in March 2016 to 33% in March 2026, while consumers holding other consumption loans in the wallet increased from 16% to 32%. Consumers holding three or more credit cards also increased from 12% to 22%, showing a more layered card relationship within the same consumer wallet.

Mr. Bhavesh Jain, MD & CEO, TransUnion CIBIL, said, “The decade-long expansion of India’s credit card market is now being shaped by a more active and varied borrower wallet. Many consumers use cards alongside small-ticket personal loans, consumer durable loans and other short-tenure credit products. This reflects a consumer credit wallet that is becoming deeper, more formal and more responsive to everyday consumption needs. At the same time, it places greater responsibility on the ecosystem to ensure that growth remains aligned with affordability, repayment capacity and the borrower’s overall obligations. As card adoption continues to expand, the focus must remain on widening access to formal credit while preserving credit quality, borrower confidence and long-term portfolio resilience.”

Different Cardholders, Different Card Paths

As cards become part of more diversified borrower wallets, cardholders can no longer be viewed as one uniform group. The ten-year study segments non-NTCC card consumers into four personas based on how the line of credit associated with cards is being utilized and what other non-card products sit in the cardholder’s wallet. Card-centric users form the largest segment at 33%, followed by occasional card users at 18%, diversified credit users at 12%, and high exposure users at 10%. The portion of cardholders with less than 12 months of card experience (9% of cardholders in March 2026) may transition into one of the four personas as they gain maturity with the product and their usage evolves over time.

Chart 2: Cardholder Personas in March 2026

Cardholders with no utilisation information or 30+ DPD have been excluded from persona definition.

These personas are defined at a point in time for all cardholders who are current on their payment as of March 2024. The persona framework may provide insights into potential future credit activity. Over the next 12 months, from March 2024 to March 2025, 62% of diversified credit users and 48% of high exposure users availed a new unsecured product, compared with only 27% of card-centric users and 12% of occasional card users respectively. The balance build-up behaviour over the 12-month period and delinquencies over the next 12 months also differ materially across diverse card personas.

Chart 3: Indexed Growth in Credit Card Balances by Consumer Persona

(Mar 2024–Mar 2025)

Average balance per consumer for March 2024 round to nearest 100. Average balance per consumer indexed at March 2024 for each persona for balance growth.

Gen Z Often Starts Credit Before Their First Card

For many young borrowers, their first credit card is no longer their first step into formal credit. The findings show a clear shift in how young Indians are building their credit wallets, with 24 to 30-year-old Gen Z consumers who entered the card market in 2024 more likely to already have an active credit footprint than same-age Millennial consumers in 2018.

At the time of first card origination, 31% of Gen Z consumers already had two or more open credit accounts in their wallet. The share of consumers with no prior credit experience was lower at 30% for Gen Z in 2024, compared with 56% for Millennials in 2018. Gen Z consumers were also more likely to already have consumption-led credit products in their wallet, with 18% holding an open consumer durable loan and 23% holding an open small-ticket personal loan at first card opening.

Early card behaviour also points to more active usage. While card activation levels for young NTCC consumers remained similar across the two cohorts, Gen Z consumers were more likely to spend a higher amount in the first three months of opening their first credit card. Around 28% of Gen Z NTCC consumers had balances above ₹25,000 within the first three months of card origination, compared with around 20% of same-age Millennial consumers in 2018.

The activity continued beyond the first card relationship. Around 69% of Gen Z NTCC consumers opened another credit product within 12 months of their first card, compared with 55% of same-age Millennial NTCC consumers in 2018. Among consumers who opened another product, 39% of Gen Z consumers did so with their first credit card issuer, compared with 33% for Millennials.

Chart 4: Gen Z Outpaces Millennials in Opening Subsequent

Credit Products After First Card

Mr. Jain added, “The role of the first credit card is also changing in a way that deserves close attention. Many new cardholders are still early in their formal credit journey, but a growing share is entering the card market with prior credit experience and with other credit products already present in the wallet. This is especially visible among Gen Z consumers, who are adding products sooner and showing stronger engagement with their first card issuer.

“For lenders, the opportunity is not just to acquire the customer at the point of first card issuance,” he said. “It is to earn trust, remain relevant as the customer’s credit needs evolve and build a relationship that supports access to credit while maintaining discipline across the lifecycle. That balance between growth, loyalty and responsible credit behaviour will be an important marker for the next phase of India’s card market.”