Mumbai: Buoyed by the marketing initiatives of retailers, shopping through card payments has risen 20 percent a week before Diwali, according to an industry report.

“The weekend before Diwali saw a growth of about 20 percent (over an average weekend) in credit card spends across the country. This growth is likely to be even higher for the Diwali weekend,” says a report by payments processor Worldline India.

While credit spends have been on a downslide for quite some time now, debit cards payments were on an uptick of late.

The report, however, did not specify whether rise in purchases were due to debit or credit cards.

Segments like cosmetic stores and salons, opticians and book stores witnessed growth in excess of 20 percent.

Home appliances and furnishings segment saw a 30 percent growth in spends, while apparel and fashion retail witnessed 22 percent growth in spends.

During October 25-27, all regions exhibited a growth in the range of 15-25 percent, with the Delhi region showing the highest increase at more than 24 percent, closely followed by Mumbai and Bangalore at 21 percent each, it said.

“The transaction volumes also grew in line with the spends, Worldline processed close to 2.5 million transactions during this weekend. The categories that grew are the typical growth drivers during the festive period and we anticipate a higher growth on Dhanteras and the Diwali weekend,” Worldline India head Jean Pascal Duvet said.

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