Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Oct 20, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Oct 20, 2005 |
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Money & Banking
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Credit Cards & Debit Cards Marketing - New Products & Services Industry & Economy - SSI HDFC Bank unveils corporate credit card for SMEs Our Bureau
Mr Samir Bhatia (left), Country Head, Coporate Banking, HDFC Bank, and Mr Anil Vinayak, Vice-President, MasterCard International, South Asia, at the launch of a business card in Mumbai on Wednesday. - - Paul Noronha
Mumbai , Oct. 19 HDFC Bank on Wednesday launched a corporate credit card for the small and medium enterprises (SME) segment jointly with MasterCard. The card, christened HDFC Bank PowerPlus BusinessCard, can be used to pay for business expenses and is linked to the cash credit account of the company. The credit limit for the card is Rs 25 lakh per company. Each company will get five individual cards for their employees. Each individual card has a maximum limit of Rs 5 lakh and minimum limit of Rs 2 lakh. The annual fee is Rs 25,000 and joining fee is Rs 500. The interest rate on the card is 1.5 per cent per month. Other benefits include 50 per cent discount on 10,000 hotels worldwide, and insurance cover up to Rs 1 lakh in the case of lost or stolen cards. Mr Sameer Bhatia, Country Head, Corporate Banking, HDFC Bank, said, "We have three kinds of SME customers. The small traders or businessmen, industrial entities with an annual turnover of up to Rs 200 crore, and the supply chain management who deal with most of the large corporates. Our SME portfolio is fast growing." The bank's SME portfolio is now 15 per cent of the corporate portfolio. While the corporate portfolio is expected to grow 20-25 per cent year-on-year, the SME segment is likely to grow at 50 per cent, Mr Bhatia said. Since the card is used solely for business purposes, any finance charges incurred may be tax-deductible. The monthly statements will clearly show the business expenses and help the companies claim tax exemptions, said Mr K.S.V. Padmanabhan, Senior Vice-President, HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank has around two million cards, said Mr Pralay Mondal, Senior Vice-President, Head, Credit Cards. "For this card, we are looking at spending and penetration, not absolute numbers," he said. HDFC Bank's Instawonderz, related to reward points, now being piloted in Pune and Chennai, will be extended to seven to eight cities in a few months, Mr Mondal said.
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