Credit card spends grow at slow pace as Covid second wave hits sentiment SECTIONS Share Synopsis Asset quality from the unsecured segment a big worry; banks have curtailed credit limits and also cut back on new customer additions Agencies Mumbai: Credit card spends in the country grew by only 7.8% in the year ended March 2021, down from a jump of 22.5% in FY20, a sign that discretionary spending continues to remain elusive. Individual banks indicated spend growth has fallen further in April and May. “We have seen a significant decline in spends in the last 45 days, largely due to the spread of the virus and strict local lockdowns enforced across states,” the retail head of a private sector lender said. “The worrying factor is that the quality of good assets has taken a hit in this (credit card) segment, and we will go slow on onboarding new clients.”