Bobcards eyes 60% growth

Bobcards Ltd, the credit card arm of Bank of Baroda (BoB), is eyeing annual growth rate 60 per cent over the next five years. Bobcards is a 100 per cent subsidiary of BoB.

S P Garg, managing director, Bobcards, said, "We would be significantly increasing the number of merchant establishments and our credit card users. We would be growing at an annual rate of 60 per cent compared with the expected national growth of 35 per cent."

Bobcards is looking at increasing its merchant establishment association by 4,000 from the current figure of 26,000 by March 2006, he said.

"We are targeting to increase the number of Bobcards users to 10 lakh from the current figure of 8.5 lakh. We would be concentrating on acquiring quality users and merchant establishments," Garg said.

He further said currently of all transactions only 3 per cent are done through credit cards, which is likely to increase to the 30 per cent mark by 2010.

"We have been acquiring Rs 1,000 crore business a year, till March 2005. Bobcards is likely to acquire business of Rs 1,500 crore every year by 2007," Garg said.

He informed that usage of Bobcards has registered 15 per cent growth since April 2005 and hoped that it might touch 50 per cent growth by March 2006.

Bobcards currently has 40 offices spread across the country.

"We would open seven more offices by the end of the current financial year. Of them, two are likely to be in India," Garg said,

The eastern offices might be in Siliguri and Durgapur, he hinted.

Bobcards would also manage the pre-paid cards to be launched by BoB early next year.

"Bobcards being a non-banking financial institution cannot launch pre-paid cards. Our parent, BoB would launch it next year. However, the business would be managed by Bobcards," Garg said.