Credit cards around the world: India A look at credit card use in the world's second most populous nation By Matt Schulz
This is the third in an ongoing series of reports looking at credit card use around the world. In this edition, we look at credit cards in India, but we'll be spanning the globe in the coming weeks and months to feature other nations.
Credit report
Credit card penetration
Not yet hooked on plastic... 28 percent of "affluent" Indians have credit cards , a fraction of the average around the world. As of 2006, credit cards accounted for just 1 percent of all purchases in India -- one of the lowest percentages in the world. Plastic purchases totalled only $6 billion that year.
...But debt is still booming Credit card debt increased 87 percent from May 2007 to May 2008, totalling roughly US$5.7 billion. It tripled from 2004 to 2007 .
Interest rates are through the roof The Washington Post says , "The lowest credit card interest rates hover around 20 percent [in India], and the average lending rate is 34 percent, which includes a 12 percent service tax on the interest ."
Cards and crime
"Most audacious cyber-crime in history" Indian hacker allegedly teamed with the Russian mafia to steal the identities of an estimated eight million people. Authorities said the losses surrounding it could total £3 billion and called it "the most audacious cyber-crime in history."
A problem for Indian banks... security at Indian financial institutions revealed that 30 percent of banks claimed to have been hit by identity theft -- most commonly phishing scams -- in the past year.
...That most aren't urgently addressing survey also said that "only one- third of respondent banks have a formal plan in place for creating customer awareness against online identity theft and financial frauds."
Local voices
Official tourism site IncredibleIndia.org
Top financial news sites Financial Express Economic Times
Indian financial blogs Personal Finance in India India Credit Card India Economy Watch
Country info
Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh
Location: Southern Asia between Burma and Pakistan (map )
Population: 1.15 billion (July 2008)
Area: 3.2 million sq km, 1.3 million sq mi
GDP: $2.989 trillion (2007)
Key exports: petroleum products, textiles, jewelry
Famous Indians: Spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi , president Jawaharlal Nehru , musician Ravi Shankar , actress Aishwarya Rai
Published: September 23, 2008
Three most recent Research, statistics stories:
CreditCards.com's newsletter
Weekly newsletter
RSS news feeds