How India's millennial credit card boom is running into Ambani's ambitions

India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, wants to connect 30 million small retailers with common inventory-management, billing and tax platforms as well as low-cost payment terminals

For every 100 people in India, there are only three credit cards. A comparable penetration figure for the US is 320.

Statistics like these suggest that India’s first initial public offering of a credit card issuer is either an opportunity with boundless prospects — or a victim of arrested development. Which is it?

The upcoming sale of shares in SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. will give investors a chance to find out. Between them, the controlling shareholder, State Bank of India, and its 26 per cent partner, Carlyle Group, plan to sell up to 130.5 million shares. Throw in a simultaneous