IMGCAP(1)]
Bajaj Allianz Financial Distribution, a joint venture of India's Bajaj Finserve Ltd. and Germany's Allianz SE, two financial-services firms, reportedly expects to launch credit card operations in India within the year. A Bajaj spokesperson offered no immediate comment to CardLine Global, but Jitendra Bhagat, the joint venture's CEO, told India's The Telegraph newspaper that the credit card operation would complement the company's consumer finance business. Bhagat added that the joint venture has not yet decided whether to launch its own card or a cobranded card. The growth of India's credit card market has made more nonbank financial institutions "willing to [jump on] this bandwagon," Prathima Rajan, an India-based analyst with United States-based Celent LLC, tells CardLine Global. Rajan notes the example of Tata Capital, a financial-services subsidiary of the Tata Group, wanting to take over the group's credit card business (CardLine Global, 7 Aug). "Bajaj also wants to be a part of this market, thus posing a tough competition," Rajan says, noting that Bajaj likely will try to persuade its existing customers to take its credit cards.
