HDFC Bank Aims To Regain Credit Card Market Share As RBI Lifts Ban

HDFC Bank in its latest press release announced that it plans to add 5 lakh new credit cards each month starting February 2022 in an attempt to regain the customer base it had lost to other card issuers, particularly ICICI and SBI owing to the restrictions imposed by RBI. It is worth noting that HDFC lost 3.23 lakh credit card customers in the last quarter of the financial year 2020-21. During the same time period, ICICI bank added over 6.7 lakh new credit cards to its portfolio. Followed by ICICI, SBI Cards and Axis Bank (in the same order) were the next two card issuers who gained the most as a consequence of the RBI restrictions on HDFC.

Now that the RBI has lifted the card issuance ban on HDFC, the bank announced that it has over 20 initiatives that are planned to be launched in the market in the next 6 to 9 months to regain the confidence of the credit card users (and prospective credit card users) in HDFC Bank as a credible card issuer in the country. HDFC has already revamped its range of credit cards in the past 9 months and plans to introduce new co-branded credit cards in the market in partnership with the bigwigs of Corporate India spanning pharma, FMCG, travel, hospitality, telecom and fintech.

HDFC, in the press release, also mentioned that the bank is still the largest card issuer in the country with 23% of the total market share as of June 2021. The bank further cited RBI data mentioning that HDFC’s credit card spends are 1.5 times more than the nearest competitor and it has 1.2 times more credit cards in its portfolio than the nearest competitor.

Bottom Line:

Apart from the initiatives HDFC plans in the next 6 to 9 months, we’re already seeing new attractive offers on HDFC credit cards. Recently, the bank came up with the WoW Wednesday Sale under which HDFC credit card holders could earn accelerated reward points and cashback on travel spends. Furthermore, to attract new customers, just a couple of days after RBI lifted the embargo on credit card issuance (which lasted around 8 months), HDFC introduced new joining offers to attract new customers, under which you can get your credit card free for lifetime and an Amazon Gift Voucher worth up to Rs. 1,500. Considering all these offers and benefits that HDFC is offering to its existing and new credit card customers, the bank seems to be aggressively promoting its credit card business; and therefore, if you’re planning to get a new HDFC credit card, there can not be a better time to signup for one. And don’t forget to go through our reviews of the various HDFC credit cards before you pick one for yourself.