Page 8 - Banking Finance April 2020

BANK UPDATE

ICICI Bank introduces HDFC Bank ties up with Indigo to offer co-branded
‘ICICIStack’ credit card

In order to ensure uninterrupted HDFC Bank has signed an agreement with IndiGo in order to launch a co-branded
banking experience to customers, credit card. Labelled Ka-ching, the card will offer benefits like complimentary
ICICI Bank has announced the launch air tickets, lounge access, 5% cashback or reward points on Indigo bookings,
and 3% cashback on dining, grocery and entertainment, the companies stated.
of ‘ICICIStack’ amid the threat of
coronavirus. Parag Rao, head of the cards business at the bank, said, “Around 20% of its
total cards are co-branded, and such cards see around 30% more spending.
‘ICICIStack’ offers nearly 500 ser-
vices that covering all banking re- Rao said, “Travel and hospitality contribute 12-13% of total spend on the bank's
quirements of customers, in one credit cards. Regarding the delinquency rate in the cards business, Rao said like
place. The list of services range from the parent HDFC Bank, which has the best asset quality with under 1.5% bad
digital account opening (instant sav- loan levels, cards business also has the lowest NPA levels. He, however, did not
ings and current account opening), quantify it in percentage.
loan solutions (instant personal IndiGo Chief Commercial Officer William Boulter said, “This is the first such tie-
loans, instant credit cards, instant up for the airline and expressed hope that Ka-ching card will help it increase
home loan sanctions, instant car customer satisfaction.”
loans, instant overdraft facility, in-
stant business loans), payment solu- Bandhan Bank opens 3 new branches after RBI relaxes
tions (digital payment solutions like
UPI, bill payments using Bharat Bill restrictions on branch opening
Payment System), investments (in- Making the total number to 1013 all over India, Bandhan Bank has recently
stant FD, PPF, NPS and AI led robo- stated that it has opened three new branches
advisory for other investments), in-
surance (term and health insurances The Bank has also opened 122 banking outlets in the form of small-format units.
digitally) to care solutions (protec- The development comes at the backdrop of RBI waived off restrictions on new
tion for life, health, car and home). branch openings for the lender. "We are happy that with the withdrawal of
It enables instant opening of savings restriction, we will be able to expand business growth rapidly," MD & CEO
account with an instant FD or in- Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said.
stant PPF, among others.
Axis Bank to infuse Rs 600 crore in Yes Bank through
“We have been working on equity route
‘ICICIStack’ in order to offer custom-
An infusion of Rs 600 crore in Yes Bank through equity route has been approved
ers all digital banking services from
by the board of Axis Bank. 60 crore equity shares of Yes Bank at Rs 10 per share
one single platform for the past few
including a premium of Rs 8 per share will be acquired by the Axis Bank.
years. In the wake of the
coronavirus outbreak over the past
In an official statement, the bank said that following the latest investment it
few weeks, we have added a few
will hold less than 5% of newly issued and paid-up capital of Yes Bank.
new features and services to offer
a bouquet of solutions to our cus- As of December 31, 2019, LIC, the promoter of Axis Bank held 8.06% of the
tomers so that they can experience equity share capital of Yes Bank. While announcing the Cabinet approval to the
the banking services uninter- restructuring scheme of Yes Bank, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said
rupted," Anup Bagchi, Executive the decision intends to safeguard depositors' interest and ensure a stable finan-
Director of ICICI Bank said. cial banking system.

6 | 2020 | APRIL | BANKING FINANCE