HDFC Bank to Launch Co-Branded Credit Cards with Paytm

HDFC Bank may have lost 2% market share in the credit cards market to SBI, Axis and ICICI Bank in the last one year. But, that was largely due to the ban on issue of fresh cards by HDFC Bank, after customers had complained about repeated outages on their online app. However, with the ban lifted in Aug-21, HDFC Bank is going aggressive to recoup its market share. The latest move is the launch of co-branded credit card with Paytm.

Also Read: RBI allows HDFC Bank to issue Cards

HDFC Bank is India’s largest private sector bank in terms of total assets and the second largest bank overall after SBI. However, in terms of market cap, HDFC Bank has been head and shoulders above the other banks, with SBI market cap at just around half that of HDFC Bank. Paytm is the largest digital payment ecosystem in India with access to over 33 crore customers and around 2.30 crore small and medium size merchants.

The alliance makes business sense for a number of reasons. Firstly, it combines the banking and customer insights and service capabilities of HDFC Bank with the digital dominance of Paytm. The co-branded credit card will target merchants, small businesses and the millennial generation. The biggest benefit for HDFC Bank will be the rapid and focused access to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Customers earn reward points on their HDFC Bank and Paytm usage.

The credit cards will be under the Visa franchise due to MasterCard currently facing RBI ban on issue of new cards due to non-compliance on local data storage. The timing of the launch has been set at Diwali, so that the full power of the festive season buying can be captured. As a result of this arrangement, Paytm merchants and customers get instant credit without too much of paperwork and documentation involved.

HDFC Banks remains India’s predominant credit card issuer with 1.48 crore cards issued followed by SBI at 1.20 crore and ICICI Bank at 1.10 crore cards issued.

Also Read

1. Paytm IPO Update

2. 8 Interesting facts about Paytm