In a first, ICICI Bank, India’s largest private lender, has launched instant credit cards for savings account customers available digitally. This comes at a time when banks are pushing for retail growth, especially in the unsecured loans segment.
"This new offering enables a few lakhs of pre-qualified customers to instantly get the credit card number and other important details online, using which, he/she can immediately start shopping online, without having to wait for the physical card to arrive," ICICI Bank said in a statement.
The credit limit for the customers is up to Rs 4 lakh based on pre-checked bureau scores.
The bank also allows customers to choose from a suite of credit cards and create a credit card instantly any time after a few additional level of security authentication. The customer can get the physical credit card within a few working days.
In the April to June quarter, ICICI Bank's credit card transactions increased year-on-year by 49 percent and 52 percent in terms of number and value, respectively.
Its credit card and personal loans witnessed a 39 percent growth, contributing to 5 percent of its total loan portfolio.
"We continue to grow the unsecured credit card and personal loan portfolio, primarily driven by a focus on cross-selling to our existing customers," Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank had said after the first quarter results announcement.
At the end of June 2017, as on June end, ICICI Bank's number of outstanding credit cards stood at 43.46 lakh, below HDFC Bank and State Bank of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.
Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, "With the festive season just around the corner, there will be many interesting offers with online partners in various categories like shopping, travel and entertainment among others. We believe that this unique proposition, which is a first of its kind in the industry, will empower our customers to instantly get the credit card online in a few steps and immediately start transacting on e-commerce sites to take advantage of the offers."
Currently, this facility to apply for a credit card in–a-flash is available through the bank’s internet banking platform. It will also be available shortly on iMobile, the bank’s mobile banking application.
To apply, customers can log in through their internet banking account, where they will be shown an option of availing a credit card with their individual credit limits. They can choose from a range of cards including the bank’s gemstone collection of Coral, Rubyx & Sapphiro; Ferrari Signature & Platinum cards and Unifare cards for metro transit services.
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