LIC Cards Sets Big Target For Year

LIC Cards, a subsidiary of Life Insurance Corp. of India, plans to issue at least 500,000 credit cards in the next financial year, which ends March 31, 2011, an official from the card issuer tells PaymentsSource.

“We have issued 50,000 cards since we began operations” last year, he adds.

LIC Cards formed after Life Insurance Corp. associated with the Mangalore-based Corporation Bank last year (see story). Life Insurance Corp. holds a 26.34% stake in the Corporation Bank. While it is responsible for marketing and mobilization of the card, Corporation Bank takes care of the management and financial services.

“Considering we began selling only last year, it has been a pretty impressive year,” the official says. “[Life Insurance Corp.] has a customer base of more than 220 million insurance policyholders in India, and this is the primary target segment.”