

MUMBAI: SBI Cards and Payment Services, which is the second largest credit card issuer with almost 21.5 million customers, has reported a 10 percent jump in net income for the September quarter at Rs 445 crore on an annualised basis but a sharp 20 percent decline sequentially.
In a statement the SBI subsidiary said its total income grew 13 percent Rs 5,136 crore of which interest income rose by 9 percent to Rs 2,493 crore up from Rs 2,290 crore in the same period last year but remained flat on a sequential basis. Fees and commission income saw a 16 percent increase to Rs 2,471 crore from Rs 2,131 crore in the same period last year.
The number of its active cardholders or cards-in-force grew by 10 percent reaching 21.5 million from 19.6 million a year ago. New account volumes also rose mildly, with 9.36 lakh new accounts opened during the quarter as against 9.04 lakh in the same period last year.
On the asset quality front, the company, which is the only listed and standalone domestic entity in the credit cards space, said its gross non-performing assets declined to 2.85 percent from 3.27 percent a year ago and but net non-performing assets marginally increased to 1.29 percent from 1.19 percent a year ago.
Meanwhile, the company's credit cost declined to 9 percent from 9.6 percent in the June quarter. It cited continued focus on collections, portfolio action, and quality underwriting. Spends increased sharply by 31 percent annually and 15 percent sequentially to Rs 1,07,063 crore from Rs 81,893 crore in September 2024 quarter, and receivables saw an 8 percent growth to Rs 59,845 crore, up from Rs 55,601 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.
SBI Cards offers an extensive credit card portfolio to individuals, corporates, which includes lifestyle, rewards, travel & fuel, and banking partnership cards, along with corporate cards covering all major cardholder segments in terms of income profile and lifestyle.