Indian households are borrowing less for discretionary spending and more against assets. RBI sectoral credit data for August 2026 shows that credit card dues and consumer durable loans barely moved, while loans against gold grew at a blistering pace, according to a Times of India report.

Credit card outstandings grew just 3.6% year on year in August, while consumer durable loans rose 2.4%. Both are far below the overall bank credit growth of 19.1%. Credit card dues stood at about Rs 3 lakh crore in August but added only Rs 4,740 crore in the first five months of FY27. Consumer durable loans stood at Rs 23,295 crore and added just Rs 1,333 crore between April and August.

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Gold loans told a very different story. Loans against gold jewellery jumped 83.2% year on year to Rs 5.6 lakh crore in August, from about Rs 3 lakh crore a year earlier. They added Rs 98,096 crore in the five months, which is 9.6% of all fresh bank credit and almost level with home loans, which added Rs 98,858 crore.

Advances against fixed deposits also rose 43.2% year on year to Rs 2 lakh crore, adding Rs 35,166 crore. Vehicle loans stayed firm, growing 19.7% to Rs 7.8 lakh crore and adding Rs 37,027 crore during the period.

Overall, bank credit rose by about Rs 10.3 lakh crore, or 4.8%, between April and August 2026, taking outstanding credit to Rs 223.9 lakh crore. Personal loans added Rs 3.5 lakh crore, or 33.9% of incremental credit, and total retail credit stood at Rs 72.9 lakh crore, up 16.9% year on year.

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Services added Rs 2.4 lakh crore, or 23% of fresh credit. Bank lending to NBFCs rose 37.5% to Rs 21.6 lakh crore, with NBFC borrowings from banks increasing by Rs 93,870 crore. Lending to public financial institutions rose 83.7%.

RBI's July data had already hinted at this trend. Personal loan growth stood at 16.2% against 11.9% a year earlier, and while housing and vehicle loans sustained double-digit growth, credit card outstanding and loans against gold jewellery had begun to decelerate.

Non-food bank credit grew 19.1% in the fortnight ended July 31, 2026, compared with 9.9% a year ago, and credit to industry grew 20.0% against 6.5%.