Ever since HDFC Bank got the clearance to get back into credit-card issuance by the Reserve Bank of India, they have made major headlines about the way forward. With some of their credit cards being the most generous ones in the Indian market, and available lifetime free to many customers, even customers of the Bank are waiting to get their hands on an HDFC Bank Credit Card if they don’t already have one.

HDFC Bank is India’s largest credit card issuer, with 1.48 Crore Credit Cards issued to date. Mr Parag Rao, Group Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking & IT, HDFC Bank, has now outlined that the Bank aims to add five lakh new credit cards to their portfolio every month, starting February 2022.

The bank is already being aggressive, offering LifeTime Free credit cards on its website, along with INR 1500 worth of Amazon vouchers (Infinia not included!).

HDFC Bank claims it already has 20 initiatives lined up to hit the market in the next 6-9 months to drive credit card growth. The most interesting part, in the words of Mr Rao,

These include the launch of new co-branded cards with the who’s who of Corporate India spanning pharma, travel, FMCG, hospitality, telecom and fintech. The bank has also revamped its existing range of cards over the past 9 months and is also ready with strategic partnerships with new companies.

The new and enhanced suite of credit card products will have something for everyone from the mass market to the ultra-premium segments. There will be tailored products for customers to meet their evolving needs.

There are many things to note here, but the key highlights are that travel and hospitality co-brand cards will be launched in 2022 and that enhanced ultra-premium cards will hit the market. We already know that HDFC Bank had collaborated with Emirates to plan a co-branded card, but given it was to be launched on the Diners Club platform, I’m not sure what is to happen with this product for the moment.

You can check out a part of the discussion, here.

Bottomline

HDFC Bank is clearly all set to make news in the coming months with their credit card products, and there will be a lot of it. In the interest of gaining new customers, I only hope HDFC Bank does not forget their old customers who brought them this far. A key move for them to move fast in the new credit cards segment would be to allow for more than one card to be issued to their customers, which is something they don’t look at positively at this time.

What do you think of the plans of HDFC Bank Credit Cards going into the future?

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