Credit card spending activity moderated in Aug'26, with industry spends declining to Rs2.02 tn, down 2.8% MoM but up 5.9% YoY. Cards-in-force continued to witness healthy traction, reaching 124.05 mn, up 10.27% YoY and 1.0% MoM. Net new card additions eased to 1.20 mn from 1.27 mn in Jul'26, led by SBI (0.19 mn), ICICI Bank (0.14 mn) and HDFC Bank (0.12 mn). Transaction volumes continued to improve to 632.45 mn, growing 4.5% MoM and 28.1% YoY. This indicates sustained card usage even as average ticket sizes declined (7% MoM). The divergence between rising volumes and softer spends points to a shift towards lower-value transactions, while...