In December 2020, HDFC Bank was barred by the Reserve Bank of India from issuing new credit cards and launching any new digital products till the bank was not going to be able to solve technology issues the bank faced from time to time which saw various outages on its Internet Banking again and again. And then, there was radio silence from both sides for about nine months. In the meantime, RBI barred American Express from issuing new cards, and MasterCard and Diners Club were also banned, however, on a different requirement, about data not being stored in India. Now, we finally have some good HDFC Bank Credit Card News.

Reserve Bank of India allows HDFC Bank to issue new credit cards.

The Reserve Bank of India has sent out a partial retraction of the ban on the Bank on August 17, 2021. The RBI has given HDFC Bank the go-ahead to start issuing new credit cards again.  This does not mean that the Bank is ready and has started to issue credit cards from August 18 onwards. But the HDFC Bank should start issuing cards anytime soon now, and they have promised a return “with a Bang”. The bang was already visible earlier in the year when scores of customers received free LTF Card upgrades, and there is no reason to doubt the aggressiveness HDFC Bank will display once it gets back in the market.

HDFC Bank has confirmed the lifting of the ban with a media statement issued today.

Anyhow, even when the Bank comes back into its issuance mode, it will find some of its partners gone for the time being. Diners Club cards have been barred for now, so one of their wildly successful cards, the Diners Club Black, would be unavailable currently for issuance. This would also impact the Emirates co-brand card, which was put up on their Most Important Terms and Conditions but has been removed again.

And on top of that, with the MasterCard ban, HDFC Bank will find one of its other exclusive products, the IndiGo co-brand cards, not being issued much unless the Bank switches it over to the Visa network. Remember, card products are often co-constructed with the networks, and the 6E product looked like one such product, given MasterCard’s logo was all over on the launch as well.

This is a good thing for HDFC Bank, and I’d expect a more aggressive push into the market in the coming times from their end. There is also that Marriott co-brand card that we still don’t know much about, by the way.

Bottomline

Expect to hear more from HDFC Bank in the coming days as the Bank starts to issue credit cards again. They are cleared to issue credit cards by the RBI after a lengthy ban and an unprecedented one.

What do you make of the HDFC Bank credit card news and what do you expect from the HDFC Bank in the coming days?

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