Citibank and ICICI Bank have 21 per cent market share in the fast growing credit card market but in terms of spends at merchant establishments, Citibank garners a neat 26 per cent while ICICI Bank has a mere 12 per cent which is comparable to that of State Bank of India which ranks fourth in the issuances tally.

These figures have been compiled in consumer payment processing company, Venture Infotek's fourth annual industry survey 2004.

The total spends in the payment industry for the year 2003-04 was Rs 20,555 crore (Rs 205.55 billion) at merchant establishments reflecting a growth of 28 per cent over the previous year.

Citibank is the leader in capturing maximum spends at 26 per cent share, followed by Standard Chartered at 15 per cent, ICICI Bank and SBI at 12 per cent, Amex at 11 per cent, HSBC at 9 per cent and others 15 per cent.

The combined share in terms of spends of the foreign banks are about 66 per cent.

The average spend per card is Rs 19,789 per annum. Private banks have shown phenomenal growth in the credit card market with card issuances vaulting by 117 per cent with the card base rising from 12.6 lakh to 27.3 lakh. 

Foreign banks followed with a 25 per cent increase in the base, rising from 43.25 lakh to 54 lakh. Foreign banks account for around 53 per cent of the credit cards in India.

The public sector banks have shown the least growth of 10 per cent, rising from 20.23 lakh to 22.17 lakh cards.

In the private sector ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are the two prominent players holding a 26 per cent share of the market.

Public sector banks form 21 per cent of the market with SBI leading the pack.