The travel, hospitality and entertainment sectors accounted for 33 percent of the total card spend seen by SBI Card during 9M FY24, according to MD and CEO Abhijit Chakravorty.
“In our portfolio, in the first nine months of December 2023, 33 percent of spending on various cards was on travel, hospitality and entertainment,” Chakravorty said, adding that travel industry data shows even that “the travel bug has bitten the Indians.” ” and that Indian travelers are big global spenders.
SBI Card continues to analyze spending behavior, market expectations and trends in society and the only thing that has been revealed is an increase in travel, he said, adding that in addition to travel business, there has also been a significant increase in leisure travel and tourism. , both nationally and internationally.
Chakravorty was speaking at the launch of SBI Card MILES, the company’s first travel-centric core card that offers travel rewards redemption, conversion of travel credits into airline miles and hotel points, accelerated rewards, free access to airport lounge, among other features.
The card has three variants and has partnered with more than 20 airline and hotel brands including Air Vistara, Air India, Spicejet, Air France-KLM, Etihad Airways, Air Canada, Thai Airways, Qantas Airways, ITC Hotels, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Accor.
It will add value to cardholders’ travel aspirations through rewards and miles, thereby facilitating and encouraging travel, Chakravorty said, adding that the card aims to deliver value for both regular spending and the trips.
SBI President Dinesh Kumar Khara said there has been a post-Covid travel boom which combined with the young population’s desire for more convenience has boosted the country’s travel aspirations. SBI Card has evolved as a company and is working to see opportunities in the card segment, and going forward, it should be able to offer hyper-personalization in this card variant as well.
“It’s not just travel, the kind of value proposition that is embedded in this card is actually addressing the need not only for travel, but for the complete ecosystem,” he said, adding that the “fungability concept” that has been introduced is unique in many respects giving the card the USP of a product that “perhaps has never been tried” before.
SBI MD Ashwini Kumar Tewari highlighted that it is difficult to monetize business cards due to high customer expectations such as unlimited lounge visits, discounts on tickets and nil to no fees.
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“It is difficult to make money on credit cards because the segment we are targeting has not evolved, but as long as it is an aspirational card and brings value, this card will sell. And SBI Card has learned to recover value for itself from customers and they will be happy to pay for it,” he said.
SBI Card’s active card spend volume is about 50 percent, which is “significant in this market,” Chakravorty said, adding that SBI Card continues to look at customer needs to meet customer needs. also through co-brand cards in addition to proprietary products. .
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