High-value buying shifts to credit cards, UPI for everyday payments amid decline in debit card usage: Report

Credit cards continued to dominate high-value consumer spending in the country, while UPI further strengthened its position as the preferred mode for everyday payments, according to a report by Worldline.

The report highlighted shifting payment behaviour, with users increasingly favouring credit cards, UPI and prepaid instruments, while debit card usage continued to decline.

The report stated this by highlighting the data for the third quarter of the 2025. It stated that during this period credit card transactions rose 26 per cent to 1.45 billion, with the transaction value reaching Rs 6.07 trillion.

This growth highlighted the strong role of credit cards in high-value and EMI-led purchases, supported by rewards programmes and flexible payment options.

In contrast, debit card usages declined sharply, with transactions falling to 0.33 billion, a drop of 22 per cent, while transaction value decreased 13 per cent to Rs 1.12 trillion. The report attributed this decline to users shifting routine spending to UPI and higher-value purchases to credit cards.

Prepaid cards recorded mixed trends, with transaction volumes rising 23 per cent, while transaction value declined 7 per cent.

The report noted that this reflects the growing use of prepaid cards for recurring and small-ticket transactions rather than large purchases.

Card issuance trends in Q3 2025 were led by credit cards. The number of credit cards in circulation grew 8 per cent year-on-year to 113.39 million, driven by strong consumer adoption of reward-based offerings and EMI features.

Debit cards increased modestly by 5 per cent year-on-year to 1,024.82 million, as their role in daily payments continued to be replaced by UPI.

Prepaid cards expanded 24 per cent year-on-year to 470.1 million, supported by corporate usage, transit solutions and wallet-driven use cases.

The report also highlighted the rapid growth of UPI. UPI transactions surged 34 per cent year-on-year, aided by expanding QR code penetration across Bharat. With 709 million active QR codes, scan-and-pay has increasingly become the default option for daily essentials and small-value transactions.

Average transaction size (ATS) trends remained stable across payment types. At point-of-sale terminals, ATS stood at Rs 2,934 for credit cards, Rs 2,908 for debit cards and Rs 150 for prepaid cards.

Online ATS was higher across all card types, reflecting the larger ticket sizes typically associated with e-commerce and digital services.

Overall, the report showed a clear shift in India's digital payments landscape, with credit cards strengthening their position in high-value and online spending, UPI becoming the default for everyday payments, and prepaid cards finding a growing role in recurring and niche use cases.


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