Tata, SBI roll out credit card

Tata Sons and State Bank of India's subsidiary, SBI Cards, on Wednesday launched the country's first white label credit card, with the Tata brand on the face of the card.

SBI Cards will be the issuer of the Tata credit card and will also bear the credit risk, but its logo will not feature on the face of the card, said Roopan Asthana, CEO of the SBI subsidiary.

A white label credit card does not carry on its face the brand of the issuer, as against a co-branded credit card, which bears the logos of both the alliance partners.

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata and SBI chairman A K Purwar were present on the occasion of the launch. The Tata credit card is the country's first card offering a large-scale, multi-brand loyalty programme, called the Tata Privilege Programme.

Tata credit card holders can avail of benefits from the Tata Group companies like Tata Motors, Titan, Tanishq, Voltas, Tata AIG, Westside, Star India Bazaar, Tata Indicom and VSNL.

The card will also offer loyalty programmes from non-Tata brands like Air India, Indian, Jet Airways and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and will be initially marketed in six cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

By May 2006, the card will be available to customers in all major cities and towns in India, said Asthana. The credit card initiative has been undertaken as a division of Tata Sons, the Tata group's holding company.

Tata Industries managing director Kishor Chaukar said the group decided to go with SBI Cards for launch of its card because of the regulatory environment.

Asked about the revenue sharing arrangement or fees that Tata Sons will receive for lending the Tata brand, Chaukar said the commercial terms were very complex and the amount of revenues that would flow to Tata Sons was dependent on a lot of factors.

SBI Cards' Asthana said there was a "fairly equitable sharing of benefits" in its alliance with Tata Sons. The target for the first year is to have a 300,000 base for the Tata credit card.

Asthana said various channels would be used for marketing of the product including SBI card counters, outlets of partners, existing databases and also dedicated Tata card outlets.

The card will be available in privilege and premiere categories. A premium card called "Leaders" would also be handed out but only through invitation. As an introductory offer, Tata credit card holders will get four reward points for every Rs 100 spent on the card.