SBI Cards & Payment Services collaborate with American Express

SBI Cards & Payment Services (SBI Card) and American Express, the globally integrated payments company, have entered into a strategic partnership to offer a powerful mix of global benefits and exclusive privileges for discerning consumers in India.

With this partnership, SBI Card’s top-end premium products namely, SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card PRIME will be available on American Express’ global network.

Designed for the premium segment of credit card users in India, SBI Card ELITE and SBI Card PRIME on the American Express platform will combine unmatched benefits from both the partners to offer consumers an enhanced premium experience.

SBI Cards & Payment Services is the second-largest credit card issuer in India with a market share of around 18 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank (market share of 27 per cent).

In the recent quarter (Q1FY21), the company’s NPA declined by 33 bps, and credit cost declined by 552 bps QoQ. The company also beat the estimates with a jump in profit, supported by a strong net interest income (NII), lower operating expenses, and lower-than-expected provisioning.

On capital adequacy, the company's capital-to-risk ratio, consisting of tier I and tier II capital was 24.4 per cent as against 18.9 per cent by June 2019, which was higher than the regulatory requirement. The company's focus on non-discretionary and digital spends translated into healthy loans to Rs 23,300 crore.

A reduction was seen in the debt-moratorium accounts, both in terms of value and volume. In June 2020, the total number of moratorium accounts declined to 1.5 lakh from 12 lakh in April 2020.