BoM launches co-branded credit card with SBI

Pune-headquartered Bank of Maharashtra has launched the co-branded credit card in association State Bank of India for its customers.

Speaking on the occasion, A S Bhattacharya, CMD, Bank of Maharashtra, said "This strategic tie-up with SBI Card, gives us the perfect platform to create a new benchmark in the credit card industry. The SBI and Bank of Maharashtra Card gives us an opportunity to provide unmatched value to the customers by expanding our service offerings to them, with an assurance of convenience, comfort and credibility. We are sure that this partnership will herald a new chapter in the Banking and Credit Card business".

Diwakar Gupta, managing director and CFO, State Bank of India said, "This partnership will not only support Bank of Maharashtra’s efforts to expand their services to its ever-increasing customer base, but will also provide an enhanced and powerful value proposition to the SBI-Bank of Maharashtra Cardholders. We are confident that with SBI Card’s expertise in innovative product solutions with both secured and unsecured cards and the large client base of Bank of Maharashtra, we would be able to establish a large and satisfied cardholder base of SBI Bank of Maharashtra Credit Cards in India."

The credit card business is not lucrative these days, on this Gupta said, "The industry needs to learn from the experience and price its risk accordingly. Banks should not just push issuance of credit cards to achieve numbers but due diligence should be exercised to run the business profitably.The industry needs to learn from the experience and price its risk accordingly."

The card is available in two variants, platinum and gold. The platinum card with an annual fee of Rs 2,999 offers 10 cash points for every Rs 100 spent on dining, departmental stores and international spends that amount to 2.5 per cent value back.