Mumbai: Despite increasing pressure in the credit card segment, lenders have accelerated their efforts, issuing close to 820,000 new credit cards in December-the highest in four months.This is a significant jump from the 350,000 cards issued in November 2024. HDFC Bank and SBI Cards were the key players, together contributing for more than half of the new cards.Experts believe lenders are looking to capitalise on increased spending during the wedding season, as credit card spending in December spiked by nearly 11% sequentially, reaching ₹1.9 lakh crore."Despite the system-wide stress in unsecured segment, credit card players have been driving up card additions among creditworthy customers in newer geographies, as they want to capitalise on the ongoing wedding season and upcoming summer holidays," said a banker.117534259RBI data reveals that the total number of credit cards in circulation reached 108 million by the end of December 2024, up from 107.2 million in November 2024. This marks an increase from 97.9 million credit cards in December 2023.The industry saw a rise of 820,000 cards in December 2024, compared with 350,000 cards added in November 2024. In December 2023, lenders had issued 1.9 million cards. While this represents a 133% month-on-month growth in credit card additions, year-on-year, the growth in card issuance fell by 57%.The bulk of new card issuances came from major players such as HDFC Bank, which added 312,000 cards, SBI Cards with 209,000, and ICICI Bank, which issued 150,000 cards. On a year-on-year basis, HDFC Bank increased its market share by 112 basis points, while sequentially, its market share grew by 10 basis points. Seasonal Surge in Spending "HDFC Bank has been issuing new credit cards at a more intense pace than the other players," said Jignesh Shial, head of BFSI research at InCred Capital. "We remain optimistic about the presence of credit cards improving across new geographies. With the holiday and wedding seasons likely to be in full swing in January and February, we will keep a close eye on the demand trend in the coming months to see how it moves."The increase in credit card additions can also be attributed to the seasonal surge in credit card spending. Total credit card spending increased by 11% in December 2024, reaching ₹1.89 lakh crore, up from ₹1.70 lakh crore in November 2024.In contrast, November saw a decline of over 16% in spending compared to October, as demand from the festive season tapered off.HDFC Bank saw the highest growth in credit card spending, with a 17% increase, followed by SBI Cards at 12% and ICICI Bank at 10.5%. "Net new card additions have risen, indicating an improved sentiment during the month, though the overall view remains cautious due to rising delinquencies as well as RBI's risk weight norms," said Bunty Chawla, analyst, IDBI Capital.The RBI has consistently raised concerns about the increased risks in the unsecured loan segment, urging lenders to be cautious when offering personal loans for consumption purposes. In response to stress in this sector, the regulator raised the risk weights on unsecured consumer credit and bank credit to NBFCs in November of last year.