The Hindu Business Line : Playing their cards right

The main advantage that gift cards have over a conventional gift is that the recipients can choose to buy things of their choice with the amount loaded in the card.

_ Kamal Narang

Festival releases: Gift cards that were launched earlier this month. (Left) The CorpBank Visa Gift Card and (above) the Central Bank of India prepaid gift card.

Roudra Bhattacharya

With the festive season usually witnessing an upsurge in consumer spending, many public sector banks (PSBs) are launching prepaid gift cards and promoting it as an ideal gift option.

Banks expect the gift card to be immensely popular with the consumers, at least till the festive mood subsides by December.

Gift cards, as offered by most banks in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India guidelines, can be loaded with a fixed amount and then used for transactions just like a debit card, till the maximum limit has been reached.

They are not a revolutionary new concept, though, and are already offered by most private banks. According to the PSBs, the cards serve as an ideal gift for corporates and individuals alike. The main advantage over a conventional gift is that the receivers can choose to buy things of their choice with the amount loaded in the card.

J. M. Garg, Chairman and Managing Director, Corporation Bank, said at the launch of the Corpbank Visa Gift Card last week, “The prepaid card will be useful for corporates looking to gift employees in the festive season.” He added that the bank aims to move towards plastic money and reduce cash transactions.

Corporation Bank’s gift card can be preloaded once for a minimum amount of Rs 1,000 and thereafter in multiples of Rs 500, up to a maximum of Rs 5,000. Moreover, it can be used across the country at five lakh Visa merchants’ outlets and will have a validity of one year. Company officials, however, said the card would soon be made reloadable and its validity increased to two years.

As a marketing initiative, Corporation Bank has also tied up with several retail outlets such as Shoppers Stop, Tanishq and Future Group’s stores such as Big Bazaar to offer special privilege discounts to its customers, says an official.

In keeping with the trend, Central Bank of India also launched its prepaid gift card last week. The bank, which plans to sell the card at select retail branches, says the launch of the card marks its return to the retail space.

“We have focused more on the corporates for the last few years and have not partnered in retail growth in India,” says S. Sridhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Central Bank of India.

According to Central Bank officials, the prepaid gift card, which can be loaded with any amount between Rs 500 and Rs 50,000, will be accepted by all retail stores across India displaying the MasterCard signage.

It can be used for online and mail order telephone order transactions as well. Other features of the card include the ability to check the card balance through the Internet or mobile phone, say bank officials.

The bank adds that for security purposes the card would come encased in a secured envelope, while the card number and details would not even be known to the branch selling the card.

To ensure that customers get dedicated services, both Central Bank of India and Corporation Bank have announced dedicated Web sites and helpline numbers for the new products.

The initiative aims to offer complete peace of mind to the customers, say bank officials.

Among other big PSBs, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has also hinted at its own plans to launch a similar gift card. Although PNB officials have not confirmed the details, they say the prepaid card will be launched earliest by the end of the month or by early November latest.

PNB, which has missed out on the Diwali rush, hopes to be in time for the Christmas shopping rush that begins by November.

Related Stories:
PNB prepaid gift cards to be out soon
Central Bank launches pre-paid gift card
Gift card: The perfect present

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