HDFC Bank launches co-branded credit card with Jet Airways

MUMBAI: Jet Airways and HDFC Bank today launched a co-branded credit card, which offers a slew of benefits and rewards to frequent flyers of the country's largest airline.

Jet's alliance with the second-largest private bank comes after the airline terminated its 12-year association for co-branded credit card with foreign lender Citi in May.

"The tie-up with HDFC Bank - the first its kind for the bank since it entered the cards space a decade ago - is unique travel option aimed at making air travel more cost- effective.

These co-branded cards will mutually work towards strengthening customer relationship and is a win-win for JetPrivilege members, HDFC Bank customers and our mutual guests," Jet Airways Chief Executive Nikos Kardassis said at the card launch here.

While Jet has around 2.8 million members under its loyalty programme JetPrivilege, the largest under such a scheme in the country, HDFC Bank is the market leader in the credit card space with one-third of the nearly 20 million cards in circulation bearing its name.

The partners said their agreement is not exclusive and both are open to similar tie-ups with other entities. They refused to reveal the commercial details of the tie-up.

" JetPrivilege-HDFC Bank World card, being the premium variant, will entitle the cardholders to enjoy a wide bouquet of lifestyle benefits," HDFC Bank Executive Director Paresh Sukthankar said.

This is the first airline co-branded card from HDFC Bank and comes after much thought and research, he added.

The bank issues nearly 90,000 cards a month and currently its customer base stands at 5.7 million, according to Parag Rao, HDFC Bank Senior Vice-President and Business Head for credit cards and merchant acquiring services.

The bank will be looking at more such cards/customer groups to widen its reach. The bank's credit card portfolio stands at Rs 10,000 crore as of the June quarter, Rao said.
The membership for the new card comes in three variants - the World, the Platinum and the Titanium - and will be offered on the MasterCard platform.