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September 18, 2005

HSBC to Issue Cards in India Without Income Proof

HSBC and hypermarket retailer Star India Bazaar have teamed up to launch a new co-branded credit card aimed at housewives. The Business Standard highlights that the card will be offered to applicants without an income verification requirement.

HSBC’s move to do away with the requirement of income proof, however, goes against the spirit of the RBI draft guidelines on credit cards that says banks must be responsible and issue cards only to those with independent financial means after completion of all know your customer (KYC) requirements.

Puneet Chaddha, head, cards and retail assets, HSBC, however, said, “Housewives will be the target customers for the card and this category of consuming class cannot be treated as without any income source. The credit limit on the card will be as low as Rs 3,000 to start with and is unlikely to create any credit hassles.” The card is being aimed at the 46.4 million consuming class households.

HSBC India does require minimum income on its regular and gold cards, along with verification documents.

Posted by The Banker at September 18, 2005 03:35 PM

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