The RBI report showed debit card transaction volumes fell from 4.087 billion in calendar year 2021 to 1.336 billion in 2025, a steep 67% drop over four years.
Transaction value also declined from ₹7.4 lakh crore to ₹4.5 lakh crore during the same period. This reflects a compounded annual decline of 24.4% in transaction volume and 11.7% in value.
The central bank said the decline in debit card usage was “potentially driven by the rise of digital wallets, UPI, and credit card adoption”.
In contrast, credit card transactions more than doubled during the same period. Transaction volumes rose from 2.16 billion in 2021 to 5.7 billion in 2025, while transaction value surged from ₹8.9 lakh crore to ₹23.2 lakh crore, growing at an annual rate of around 27%, the report noted.
Despite the sharp fall in usage, debit cards still dominate in terms of cards issued. As of December 2025, India had 1.0343 billion debit cards compared with 115.8 million credit cards.
The RBI said debit cards are now largely being used for cash withdrawals and basic banking transactions, while credit cards are preferred for online purchases and credit access.
Public sector banks continued to dominate the debit card market with a 63.1% share as of December 2025, although this was lower than 67.9% in December 2021. Private sector banks increased their share from 20.6% to 25.1% during the period.
The report comes amid rapid expansion in India’s digital payments ecosystem led by UPI. According to the RBI, UPI accounted for 85.5% of total payment transaction volume in the second half of 2025.
