Banks go slow on cards sale

NEW DELHI: Banks and credit card issuers such as ICICI Bank, Citibank and HSBC have reduced cold calls to potential customers by 50% against 200 calls made in a day even as recently as six months ago, according to industry estimates. Private banks have brought down the number of direct selling agents, who were given the job of selling credit cards by as much as 25% in the past six months.

A senior official of a leading Mumbai-based private sector bank said: "We have curtailed the use of DSAs in India as the concept is not working according to our expectation. Also, with the economy slowing and prices moving northward, we are becoming careful about unsecured lending at this critical juncture."

An email sent by ET to ICICI Bank, Citibank and HSBC did not yield any response. A senior official of HDFC Bank said, "We have relied more on our in-house team to sell credit cards, as it helps connect with customers better."



According to estimates of the Credit Card Management Consultancy, a firm that tracks the credit card industry, private banks have reduced marketing expenses on these channels in the past few months.