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Tag: SBI card

  • SBI Card Sees Q3 Sparkle on Festive Season Spending Boost

    SBI Card Sees Q3 Sparkle on Festive Season Spending Boost

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    SBI Cards & Payments Services (SBI Card), the country’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, is upbeat about clocking a better third quarter (Oct-Dec 2023) performance this year, riding on the strong ongoing festive season spends, Abhijit Chakravorty, Managing Director & CEO, has said.

    In his first interaction with BusinessLine post assuming charge at the helm of SBI Card this August, Chakravorty said that transaction volumes in the third quarter are “impressive” and that the company is bound to register a better performance in Q3 considering that the festive season started in October this year.

    “Last year the festive season was split between two quarters i.e festive season started from September 2022. We will be seeing better performance this quarter considering that festive season started as late as Oct 10”, Chakravorty said.

    “My receivables now are at an all time high, my spends are at an all time high. There is great appetite for consumption in the market. So all these leads me to believe that my business volumes to be continuously growing this quarter and those will bring me adequate returns”.

    SBI Card on Friday reported a 15 per cent increase in net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2023 at ₹603 crore (₹526 crore). Credit card spends saw 27 per cent year-on-year growth in Q2 at ₹79,164 crore (₹62,306 crore).

    CUSTOMERCENTRICITY

    Asked whether he intends to bring some “strategic shift” in the company’s working, Chakravorty said that it would be a largely “business as usual” approach, but quickly noted that he intends to focus on “customer centricity” as an add-on to the existing business plans.

    “I would be working closely on the customer satisfaction front. I would prefer to give my customers an absolute friction-free experience so far as card usage is concerned.

    We would like to see if there is any gap, if there is anything that can be done, if there is any value additions that can come towards customer satisfaction, have an ear to the market, look at the noises that are coming out and work on them and give them the best experience that they expect”, he said.

    Chakravorty however declined to give any profit guidance for the entire fiscal even as he pointed out that fourth quarter is expected to be an outlier this fiscal too and help boost overall financial performance.

    On Cards-in-force, Chakravorty said he expects to sustain the growth (21 per cent year-on-year in Q2) and noted that gross additions have been comfortable.

    “We had aspirations of adding 10 lakh plus new cards (on gross level) per quarter. That level we have been achieving (overshooting in last two quarters) and would like to maintain and achieve going forward also”, Chakravorty said.

    DIGITAL JOURNEY 

    Going forward, SBI Card would look to push more digital onboarding of customers rather than human sourcing that is prevailing now. 

    “We want to accelerate the digital journey and make customer interaction more digital. The digital journey is already there which helps in getting a card within 10 minutes, provided all documentation are aligned.

    Nothing can beat a digital experience. The delight created by a seamless digital experience, but that kind of awareness we would like to create in the market for our digital journeys which are already there”, he said.

    UPI CREDIT – A THREAT?

    Asked if SBI Card sees UPI on Credit as a threat, Chakravorty replied in the negative. 

    “UPI on credit is one more facility, one more window, but it is a limited window. As on date and as per our understanding on what we have read, we don’t see UPI on credit as a threat”, he said.

    He said that credit card is a niche payment option that will continue to prevail and expressed confidence that customer preference will not be taken away.

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  • SBI Card enables RuPay credit cards on UPI

    SBI Card enables RuPay credit cards on UPI

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    SBI Card, the country’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have announced the linking of SBI credit cards on the RuPay platform with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Starting Thursday, SBI Card customers will be able to make UPI transactions through their credit cards issued on RuPay.

    The functionality can be availed through registering the credit card with third-party UPI apps. This will further enhance the avenues for customers using SBI Card on the RuPay platform at UPI merchants, thus facilitating an enhanced, convenient, and seamless payments experience.

    Cardholders can enrol their active primary cards on UPI and make payments to merchants (P2M transactions) using their credit cards. This facility is free for customers.

    To ensure successful credit card linking with UPI, it is important to note that the cardholder’s mobile number registered with SBI Card should also be linked with UPI.

    As of June 2023, SBI Card had a cards-in-force (CIF) base of 1.73 crore, up 21 percent year-on-year as of June 2022.

    Commenting on the move, Rama Mohan Rao Amara, MD and CEO, SBI Card, said, “With this functionality, SBI Card customers will be able to use their SBI Card-issued RuPay credit cards on the UPI platform. Today, UPI has become a massive digital platform, enabling millions of transactions every day”.

    Flexibility

    This should give SBI Card customers greater flexibility and mobility along with hassle-free usage, he added. With this, the industry is going to witness a significant increase in credit card usage, Amara noted.

    Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, said, “The addition of SBI RuPayCredit Cards on UPI rails is a big milestone in the growth trajectory of digital payments in India. This partnership will enable seamless UPI payments for SBI RuPay credit cardholders, providing them with a digitally enabled credit card lifecycle experience”.

    With the rising demand for credit cards in the country, it becomes imperative to continuously build innovative payment solutions, such as linking RuPay Credit Cards with UPI, that are convenient, swift, and secure, Asbe added.

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  • 25% of new credit card issues happen on RuPay network: NPCI Rai

    25% of new credit card issues happen on RuPay network: NPCI Rai

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    About 25 per cent of all new credit card issuances are happening on the RuPay network, according to Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).

    “Cards in force are growing fast, driven by the innovative product suite. Volume growth is multiplying; it’s more than doubling,” Rai said on the sidelines of the launch of the SBI Paytm credit card on the RuPay network.

    Even though 52 per cent of customers on the UPI network are credit active, only 3–10 per cent use credit cards. The NPCI said that of the over 30 crore UPI users, 2.5–3.0 crore are credit card holders.

    Huge opportunity

    This provides NPCI with a huge opportunity to grow its credit card portfolio and market share now that the RuPay network has been integrated with UPI, Rai said, adding “there are a number of programmes already launched on RuPay and there are many in the pipeline,” including more tie-ups for co-branded cards.

    NPCI’s RuPay has a 35 per cent market share in the debit card market in terms of volume, 30 per cent in terms of the value of card spends, and 69 per cent in terms of cards in force. The thrust on credit cards began about 3–4 years ago with a focus on technology and innovation, local market requirements, product differentiation, and building brand value.

    “We told ourselves that unless we are building the stature of RuPay on the credit side, we can’t lay claim to the fact that RuPay is India’s indigenous card network, and for that, we really changed gears on credit,” Rai said at the event.

    The credit card portfolio has seen a spike since the linking of the RuPay network to UPI, she said, adding that this card will “emerge as a keystone credit solution” as it offers the convenience of acceptance of credit cards across all UPI points with card benefits such as rewards and cashbacks.

    “What NPCI has done phenomenally well with UPI and QR is incredible. RuPay credit card riding is the game changer here,” said Nalin Bansal, Chief of Corporate and Fintech Relationships and Key Initiatives at NPCI.

    The SBI Paytm card, originally launched in November 2020, will be issued instantaneously and will not require tokenisation at merchant touch points as the UPI ID will become the de facto token.

    Under the RuPay launch, it will offer benefits up to ₹75,000 with a complimentary Paytm First and OTT platform membership, flight ticket discounts, rewards, savings, and cash backs.

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