Debit, Credit and PPI cards clock 500 Mn transactions at PoS, e-comm platforms in Nov, shows RBI data

Debit, credit and prepaid instrument cards collectively crossed 500 million transactions on Point of Sale (PoS) and e-commerce platforms in November, RBI’s settlement data of select payment systems shows. 

According to the data, debit cards recorded 348.9 million transactions at point-of-sale (PoS) and e-commerce platforms in November while credit cards and prepaid payment instruments or PPI cards registered 141.2 and 11.8 million transactions respectively. No data was made available for ATM transactions. 

In terms of value, debit cards have processed Rs 54,615 crore worth of transactions followed by credit cards’ Rs 43,505 crore and PPI cards’ Rs 2,712 crore in the last month.

It is for the first time that RBI has released the data of transaction numbers processed by debit, credit and PPI cards at PoS terminals and e-commerce platforms.

PPI cards are pre-loaded cards such as gift cards issued by a company after receiving a licence from RBI to allow consumers spending for online shopping and at PoS terminals. PPI cards facilitate the purchase of goods and services, including financial services, emittances, funds transfers, among others.

Meanwhile, according to the latest report published by Worldline, a merchant acquirer and payment processor in Europe which collates data from RBI, debit card issuances in India grew 12% to 865.43 million and credit cards surged 4% to 58.69 million on an annualised basis in the September quarter. During the period, debit cards saw a total of 1.03 billion transactions worth Rs 2.13 lakh crore. 

The report also said that the number of debit card transactions processed at PoS terminals stood at 486.83 million in Q3 of the ongoing calendar year while e-commerce transactions were at 550.32 million. The transaction numbers also include card-to-card transfers and digital bill payments through ATMs. In terms of value, Rs 85,768 crore was processed at PoS terminals and Rs 1.27 lakh crore in e-commerce transactions.

Credit card transactions through PoS terminals in the September quarter stood at 197.45 million worth Rs 63,094 crore and through e-commerce at 225.70 million amounting to Rs 83,909 crore, the report said.

Despite UPI’s dominance in online payments, debit and credit cards are widely used for e-commerce shopping and paying at PoS. According to experts tracking the segment, credit and debit cards have recorded a surge in the number of transactions during the festive season in October-November.

To recall, UPI had recorded 2.21 billion transactions worth 3,90,999 crore in November.