SBI plans aggressive expansion in credit card market to overtake HDFC Bank, which currently dominates India’s card spend with nearly 30% share, as industry competition intensifies.
State Bank of India wants its credit card arm to overtake HDFC Bank and become the country’s biggest issuer, chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said, even though the lender is still playing catch-up in the fast-growing market. Speaking to ETBFSI, Setty said: “We would like to be number one.” He added that SBI already leads the debit card market, but in credit cards it remains behind the private sector lender that currently sits at the top.
The latest figures show how steep that climb remains. As of June 2026, HDFC Bank held about 22% of India’s active credit card base and nearly 29.5% of monthly spending, or roughly Rs 59,400 crore, according to ETBFSI. SBI Card accounted for about 19% of active cards and 20.4% of monthly spends. Earlier data from January 2026 showed the two banks together controlling nearly half of all credit card spending, while the top five issuers accounted for more than 85% of transactions, underlining how concentrated the market has become.
That concentration has sharpened over the past year. Industry reports in December 2024 and January 2026 showed HDFC Bank holding the leading position in credit cards while SBI maintained its advantage in debit cards. Other issuers have also made gains, but the field remains dominated by the largest banks, suggesting SBI’s ambition will depend on whether it can keep expanding card usage beyond its current base and close the gap with HDFC Bank on spending and card issuance.
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