Axis Bank expects credit card business to double in 3 years

Private sector commercial bank Axis Bank is expecting its credit card business doubling in terms of volume during the next three years. It is expecting the credit card spend to grow two to three times from the current Rs 1,000 crore, by the time, said Jairam Sridharan, president - retail lending and payments, Axis Bank.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai about the Bank's retail lending portfolio, he said, "The credit card business is expected to grow at a healthy level in the future. At present we have 1.5 million credit cards and we are expecting this to double in next three years."

The credit card spend by its customers at present is around Rs 1,000 crore, which would experience a two to three times growth during the period. In FY 2014, it has registered a growth of 84 per cent in credig card spends, which according to him, is the highest in the industry.

The delinquencies in this business is becoming less across the Banking industry copared to the historical levels. It has come down by half from the historical levels of 8-9 per cent. However he refused to reveal on the related details of the Bank. The Bank is the fifth largest credit card issuer in the country, he added.

The Bank is currently focusing on unsecured lending business under the retail lending business, for future growth. The personal loan business of the Bank is at around Rs 5,000 crore.

The bank has registered a 27 per cent growth in retail lending including credit card business during the first half of the fiscal year. The retail lending sector is driven by housing loan and the home loans contributed to 53 per cent of the overall lending book. The Banks retail lending business was around Rs 90,000 crore as at the end of September, 2014. In the last one and a half to two years, the overall housing finance industry has been experiencing a lower growth and it has reflected in the business of the Bank also, he said.

It is also looking at the potential for growth in the tier II, III centres and smaller towns which are contributing 30 per cent of the new business for the Bank.

The Bank is expecting the retail lending sector will continue to grow with the growth of personal consumption and increase in income levels are expected to continue, he said. The Bank at present has 2,505 branches and extension counters and 13,146 ATMs across the country, as on September 30, 2014, with its presence in 1,686 cities and towns.