The increase in the use of debit, credit cards shows that consumer spending is picking up in the Unlock period

The value of transactions through credit and debit cards have jumped 111 percent in June as compared to April this year when India was under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world because of the Covid-19 pandemic, shows the data by the Reserve Bank of India.

The same indicates a pickup in consumer spending after crashing in the lockdown period said a report by Financial Express.

The RBI data shows that the transactions using debit and credit cards increased to Rs 1,05,266 crore in June, compared to Rs 49,807 crore in April.

Besides, cash withdrawals through ATMs have also witnessed a rise by Rs 1 lakh crore in two months. The credit card transactions rose from Rs 20,765 crore in April to Rs 42,773 crore in June; and debit card use climbed from Rs 29,043 crores to Rs 62,494 crore, the report added.

Rise in card transactions at POS terminals indicates spending is slowly returning to normalcy. The source was, however, skeptical of further improvement because of the increasing Covid-19 cases.

Further, the RBI data shows that the credit transfers, including NEFT and IMPS, have also arisen to Rs 24.19 lakh crore in June from Rs 20.18 lakh crore in May and Rs 16.87 lakh crore in April.