Relief to HDFC Bank: Permission to issue new credit cards was imposed, the ban was imposed for eight months
HDFC Bank is the leader in the credit card segment. But in December last year, the Reserve Bank had banned HDFC Bank from issuing its credit cards after repeated technology issues. SBI and ICICI took full advantage of this opportunity.
HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank, has got permission to sell new credit cards. About eight months ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred HDFC Bank from selling credit cards. On Tuesday, RBI has lifted the moratorium on HDFC Bank. Banking sources, however, said the moratorium on introducing new technology initiatives will continue.
HDFC Bank is the leader in the credit card segment. But in December last year, the Reserve Bank had banned HDFC Bank from issuing its credit cards after repeated technology issues. SBI and ICICI took full advantage of this opportunity. As of June, the number of credit card customers of HDFC Bank stood at 1.48 crore.
HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank, has got permission to sell new credit cards. About eight months ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred HDFC Bank from selling credit cards. On Tuesday, RBI has lifted the moratorium on HDFC Bank. Banking sources, however, said the moratorium on introducing new technology initiatives will continue.
According to the source, HDFC Bank has received a notification regarding the lifting of the ban on credit cards. The existing credit card customers of the bank were not affected by this ban.
On July 17, HDFC Bank Chief Executive and Managing Director Shashidhar Jagadeesan had said that the bank has completed 85 per cent of the reforms the RBI wants. Now the ball is in the court of the Reserve Bank to remove the ban from the bank.
In this month’s monetary policy review, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das stressed that the RBI has initiated strong action against entities such as HDFC Bank, Mastercard and American Express to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines.
HDFC Bank is by far the largest credit card issuer in the country and remains in the same position even after the ban.