Bank of Maharashtra to enter credit card market

Bank of Maharashtra has announced its wish to launch its Visa credit card in the next three months. The bank is aiming to achieve a base of one lakh for the product by the end of this fiscal.

Speaking to Business Standard, M D Mallya, CMD, Bank of Maharashtra said: "We have a strong retail base across the country and we will target this potential for our credit card. In addition to this exercise, we are actively expanding our branch network in all the markets we are present in."

The company has been traditionally strong in the western markets and northern markets, and it is stepping up efforts to spruce up its presence in South India.

"In the present fiscal, we plan to beef up our branch network in South India and parallely also increase our network of ATMs," Mallya said.

The company will also implement core banking solution and around 125 of its branches are expected to go live on this by end of this fiscal.

The bank, which registered a business of Rs 44,000 crore during FY'06 is working towards achieving a target of Rs 55,000 crore during FY'07, a growth of 25 per cent.

"This kind of growth we feel is definitely achievable given the kind of business traction we are seeing in the market today. Retail segment is growing fast and we are well prepared to tap into this opportunity," he added.