Poonawalla Fincorp is evaluating whether it will launch a co-branded card or its own card, and should be able to launch a credit card in 1-2 quarters, MD Abhay Bhutada told BusinessLine.

The NBFC initially wanted to launch a co-branded card, however, post the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines of credit cards and PPI instruments, the company decided to explore both the options, Bhutada said.

Though reluctant initially, the Reserve Bank of India, too, is now “more comfortable”about giving a standalone credit card licence, which has encouraged NBFC to opt for a standalone card.

Prefer own brand

“Mostly, we will prefer going on our own rather than a co-branded card because we are able to source customers, and now since we have the choice, we will prefer to launch as a Poonawalla brand,” Bhutada said.

However, this will take 1-2 quarters as the final regulatory norms could take some time to come, he said, adding that the company is also awaiting clarity from the regulator on certain issues.

“There is no clarity on a lot of points, which we are discussing internally, as well as we will discuss with them (RBI), before we apply for the separate licence. We need lot of clarification because they have also recently come out with the guidelines and we are not clear on a few of the parameters,” Bhutada said.

Poonawalla Fincorp also has plans to launch an EMI card, consumer finance loans and merchant cash advances over the next couple of months.

comment COMMENT NOW