Crisil affirms and enhances SBI Cards' debt ratings

Crisil Ratings has reaffirmed its 'Crisil AAA/Stable/Crisil A1+' ratings on the debt instruments and bank facilities of SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd (SBI Cards), with the total bank loan facilities rated being enhanced to INR 62,000 crore from INR 57,000 crore. The long-term rating remains Crisil AAA/Stable (Reaffirmed) and the short-term rating Crisil A1+ (Reaffirmed). Commercial Paper of INR 34,000 crore and Lower Tier II Bonds aggregating INR 5,300.2 crore also maintained Crisil A1+ (Reaffirmed) and Crisil AAA/Stable (Reaffirmed) ratings, respectively.

The ratings reflect strong support from majority shareholder State Bank of India (SBI) and SBI Cards' steady market position as the second-largest player in the credit card industry with 2.15 crore cards-in-force and a 19.0% market share as of September 30, 2025. Profitability, while moderating in fiscal 2025, remains comfortable with an annualised return on assets (RoA) of 3.0% during the first half of fiscal 2026.

Despite sustained profitability, the company faces asset quality challenges with gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) at 2.85% as of September 30, 2025, an increase from 2.76% on March 31, 2024. However, the company maintains superior liquidity, showing a cumulative positive mismatch across all time buckets as of June 30, 2025.