SBI Cards to grow portfolio by 1 mn in 3 yrs

SBI Cards, joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital, aims to add 1 million credit cards to its portfolio over three years. The company has the credit card base of over 2.2 million as on March 2012.

“We have identified potential centres for growth which are beyond the tier-I cities. About 20 per cent of growth is expected from tier-II and tier-III cities in next three years,” said Kadambi Narahari, chief executive officer, SBI Cards.

While the number of outstanding credit cards in the industry continues to shrink, there has been an increase in the spends. According to Reserve Bank of India data, credit card spends increased by around 28 per cent in 2011-12 against the previous financial year. “We expect the average increase in spends to be 25-30 per cent this year,” said Narahari.

SBI Cards is also planning to launch a mobile platform to provide better service to its customers, he added. Also, the company will shortly launch a premium card targeted at high net worth individuals.