How SBI Cards is Fighting the UPI / e-Payments Onslaught ?

The low starting point of digital payments, has led to mass adoption of all types of digital payment products and are growing at a healthy pace in their respective playing fields. Market share gains of UPI in digital payments should be seen as an expansion of digital payments in customer or merchant segments that have not been target credit card segments. In this backdrop, let us examine what SBI Credit Cards is doing to wade off the onslaught from UPI & Mobile Wallets.

Credit Cards are meant for P2M (person to merchant) payments and not for P2P (person to person) payments. Most of the rapid rise in UPI payments belongs to the P2P category. Data on UPI payments in P2M categories started to be reported from April 2020. UPI P2M payments have also seen a strong rise although the value of spends is broadly comparable to credit card and

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Why SBI Cards has Largest Number of Co-Branded Partners ?

SBI Cards has the highest number of co-brand partnerships (18) and these cards comprise one third of its card additions. Co-branded cards are issued in conjunction with consumer-facing partners with strong and loyal customer bases. Marquee co-brand partners include the likes of Air India, IRCTC, Apollo, OLA, Yatra, and BPCL.

The value offerings of these cards are designed to address specific needs of customers and increase stickiness. It also serves to enhance the brand strength of SBI Cards by partnering with strong brands and allows access to a

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SBI Cards Business Model – SWOT Analysis

SBI Cards‘ outstanding card base has grown at a CAGR of 28% over FY15-FY2019 (vs industry CAGR of 22%) with market share of ~18% at Sep-19. With low credit card penetration in SBI customers, strong brand name and distribution, SBI Cards has potential to grow its card base at ~23% CAGR over the next 5 years leading to market share of ~22.5% by FY24. In this backdrop, we do a SWOT Analysis on the Business Model of the SBI Cards.

SBI Cards Strengths
The tutelage provided by SBI gives natural advantage to SBI Cards in growing its business. The advantages come in the form of brand, trust, access to vast customer base and distribution strength. For example: In FY19, 55% of the new customers were sourced from SBI’s customer base. With more than 20 years

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How Credit / Debit Cards evolved to the Forefront of Payment System in India ?

Major players entered the Indian Plastic Money – Credit / Debit Card race only in 2002-03, even though the industry began as early as 1992. The first leg of growth took place during 2003-08. The introduction of lifetime free cards, coupled with an absence of credit bureaus, had dire consequences that played out during the global financial crisis. The industry has evolved today and the learnings of the past have paved the way for the next leg of growth, which is taking place right now.

Credit Card penetration in India is still extremely low at ~4-5% and one expects a few more years of strong growth in card additions. Credit Cards have growth ~3X in the past three years to ~46 mn while debit cards have grown even more rapidly at a ~48% CAGR to ~900 mn, the latter

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IVR Fraud Advisory – Intouch Concepts / MedCare India

SBI Card FraudsIn the last 2 years we have seen increasing number of Frauds that has happened with SBI Credit Card Consumers. We first alerted our readers about the IVR Credit Card Fraud in Nov-2013 and since then it has only grown as you can read here about SaporDeals and again here on SBI Cards.

Today a reader of our Advisory has written about IVR Fraud by Intouch Concepts / MedCare India operating from New Delhi. He writes as follows,

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SBI Raising Bills on Credit Card Never Delivered

SBI Credit CardA reader of our Financial Planning and Consumer Advisory Services has written his plight on how SBI GE Credit Cards division has duped him. The intent is to serve this as caution advisory on Banking Practices in violation of the RBI Guidelines.

SBI has started sending me statements charging fines on fines for the credit card which was never delivered, even when I had paid for it. They had forfeited my reward points without giving me any intimation and kept on lying that scheme continued when there was no scheme. Imagine when a complainant is a simple common man who can pursue with you or them, he must be ending up paying them extortion money to buy peace making them rich and comforting you. SBI Cards are the people who don’t think there is any consumer law in the country and they firmly believe that they can arm twist people and extract

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