Mumbai-based ICICI Bank has stopped accepting and soliciting applications for credit cards, according to local media reports.
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The reports indicate ICICI is attempting to reduce its exposure to card defaults. The bank no longer is accepting card applications online, and it has no direct selling agency under contract to solicit card business.
ICICI officials declined PaymentsSource requests for to comment.
The issuer also has been paring its card accounts, Mrinalini Manral, an analyst with Mumbai-based research firm Dassler Business Intelligence, tells PaymentsSource. “Last year, it had cut its card base from 9 million in 2008 to 7 million,” she says. “I expect this exercise to continue till they reach their optimal card portfolio.”
