Private sector lender Yes Bank has laid out ambitious plans for its credit card business and hopes to grow its book by four times in the next two years.

It is also looking to gradually increase its credit card issuances to about two lakh every month from a planned 25,000 in December this year.

“We hope to issue more than 25,000 cards in December. We will then keep on growing at a very quick pace and we have a plan for the next 24 months. There is a month-wise plan, but we have to move to a run rate of two lakhs issuances per month. It won’t happen in the next six months but it will be a journey,” said Rajanish Prabhu, Business Head, Credit Cards and Merchant Acquisition, Yes Bank, pointing out that many large banks issue more than two lakh cards per month.

As of September 30, 2020, Yes Bank had 8,16,208 outstanding credit cards with a transaction value of ₹490.76 crore.

In an interaction with BusinessLine , Prabhu said the lender had issued 45,000 cards by February this year but then the Covid-19 pandemic and then the moratorium on the bank impacted the business.

Later, with the loan moratorium and economic uncertainty, the bank chose a conservative stance in terms of customer acquisition for credit cards but is now once again picking up the pace.

“Retail is the focus for the bank and credit cards are an important area of focus. In the next two years, we want to grow the book four times and in the next five years, we want to grow the book by 15 times,” Prabhu said.

The bank will focus on technology as well as distribution channels for customer acquisition. As of now, Yes Bank has a credit card book of about ₹1,250 crore.

Prabhu said there is also recovery in terms of customer spends, which is now back to 90 per cent of pre- Covid level. “We also had a jolt in March when we had to close down transactions. Given that background, 90 per cent is a good number,” he noted, adding that there is not any stress in the book as of now.

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