Private sector bank RBL Bank on Wednesday resumed issuing credit cards on its rival Visa payment network, two months after the ban on Mastercard. Let us tell you that a regulatory ban was imposed on Mastercard two months ago. The Reserve Bank of India on July 14 this year barred MasterCard from issuing any new cards for non-compliance with the data localization requirement.
The move came as a blow to several banks, including RBL Bank, which were completely dependent on the US payments company for their credit card business. RBL Bank said it had just signed up with Visa on July 14, and the technology integration was achieved in record time to resume new issuance.
The Head of Retail Business, RBL Bank thanked Visa and Technology Partner Fisher and expressed confidence in meeting its target of issuing 12-14 lakh credit cards in FY22. Sujai Raina, Head of Business Development, Visa for India, said the company aims to enable digital payments and help customers easily access credit offerings from issuers.
Credit cards contribute 37.5 per cent to the retail book for the contributors, which has a 5 per cent market share in this segment. By June, its credit card book had grown by 17 per cent to Rs 12,039 crore and as of July 30.69 lakh cards were outstanding. The bank had said in its guidance that by mid-September, it will resume issuing credit cards and is expected to make an average of 1 lakh cards a month.
Shares of RBL Bank were trading 2.42 per cent higher at Rs 179.60 per piece on the BSE, compared to a gain of 0.59 per cent on the benchmark.
