HDFC Bank is looking to grow credit card issuance to double by next 12-15 months, according to a report in Business Standard. HDFC Bank cards, merchant acquiring business and marketing head Parag Rao said the bank was issuing about 75,000-80,000 credit cards per month a year back and now they are offering around two lakh cards per month. The bank plans to double it to about 4 lakh cards in the next 12-15 months. He said the bank is planning to expand its presence in the rural and semi-urban markets. According to him, currently the 40-45% of the growth in the two lakh cards the bank issue comes from the non-top 20 towns. The bank sees a significant growth coming in from the tier-two and tier-three cities and the bank had been investing to expand its payment infrastructure in rural areas for about two years now, he said.
