SBI Cards and Payment Services and retail unit Reliance, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, will launch a co-branded credit card on Indian payments network RuPay, the companies said on Tuesday.
The partnership marks Reliance’s entry into the credit card business and comes months after Mukesh Ambani separately launched his financial services business in a bid to diversify his already extensive petroleum products retail business.
The SBI Card can attract customers by giving them access to rewards at 18,650 Reliance Retail stores in India, at a time when credit card spending is booming.
The holiday season, when customers spend most of their time shopping, is also expected to increase spending.
Data from the Reserve Bank of India shows that the number of credit cards on the network increased nearly 20% year-on-year in September.
SBI Card, India’s second-largest credit card issuer, which is largely owned by major lender State Bank of India, will launch two variants of the card with Reliance Retail, which owns brands such as Reliance Digital, JioMart and Netmeds (reported by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; written by Sohini Goswami).
