Consumers in Delhi were much more liberal compared to those in other cities when it came to spending plastic money in 2008-09. During the financial year, they've spent 38 per cent more than their Mumbai counterparts on each credit card transaction, according to a study conducted by a Mumbai-based payment solutions provider.
The Venture Infotek study found that the average ticket size of a credit card transaction in Delhi was the highest among the four metros at Rs 2,870, while the same was the lowest in Mumbai at Rs 2,076. Chennai came in second at Rs 2,716, while Kolkata was the third at Rs 2,621 per swipe.
The study covered 150 million credit and debit card transactions processed by Venture Infotek in 2008-09, involving a cumulative spend of Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion).
However, in terms of increase in the number of transactions during the year, Mumbai recorded a 49 per cent rise over the previous year, whereas it was 46 per cent for Delhi.
"Customers in Delhi are big spenders and it is no surprise that they spent more per swipe than in any other city. Customers in Mumbai appear to have become more cautious with their credit cards as a result of the slowdown," said Piyush Khaitan, vice-chairman and managing director of Venture Infotek.
Among debit cards, Kolkata had the highest average ticket size at Rs 1,775, closely followed by Delhi at Rs 1,729. In this case also Mumbai had the lowest average ticket size at Rs 1,343.
"Debit card penetration is very pervasive in Mumbai and numbers indicate that people in this island city use these cards more for day-to-day purchases, which tend to be of lower ticket size," said Khaitan. The number of debit card transactions in Mumbai saw a 124 per cent jump, while those in Delhi increased by 94 per cent over the previous year.
Amid the downturn in the economy, Indian consumers increased their spending through debit cards compared to credit cards to keep their expenditures under check. The average ticket size of a debit card transaction in 2008-90 increased by Rs 35 compared to the previous year, whereas the average ticket size of credit card transactions fell by Rs 23.
The total value of point-of-sale transactions through debit cards from April 2008-January 2009 registered an increase of 51.4 per cent over the same period last year, whereas the increase in value of PoS transactions for credit cards for this period was only 17.4 per cent.
