No concerns on Citi cards attrition: Axis Bank

The acquisition of Citi India’s consumer businesses is on track and Axis Bank has no concerns around attrition of card customers or the asset quality of the card portfolio, a senior bank executive said on Wednesday.

Sanjeev Moghe, president & head —cards and payments, Axis Bank, said that the bank is confident of the portfolio on which it has done due diligence and the price that it has bid on.

“We are pretty confident also that we’ll be able to deliver value on the price that we have paid for. Those parameters don’t change,” he said.
Moghe said that once the statutory approvals for the deal come in, the process of integration will pick up speed and will be completed over the next 18-24 months.

Axis Bank is not too worried about the loss of customers in Citi’s cards portfolio as the trend of degrowth predates the deal announcement.

Customer acquisition may have slowed down for Citi due to factors resulting from Covid and the simultaneous gain and loss of card customers is a fact of life for all banks, Moghe said.

“Having said that, Citi has clear strengths in terms of the portfolio being more affluent than the average market.

“Therefore, their spends are a very clear indicator of what’s happening. Overall spends are growing and therefore those metrics look okay,” he said.

The asset quality of Citi’s card portfolio is also under control and well below the industry average, Moghe said. “Normally, you run a cards business with 4-5% of NPA (non-performing assets). Right now, it is substantially lower. This number is for the industry and our number is well under control,” he said.

Axis Bank in partnership with EazyDiner on Wednesday announced the launch of Dining Delights, a programme offering benefits on dining out for the bank’s customers. The programme will offer benefits such as the option to choose from over 10,000 premium restaurants across India and Dubai, instant confirmation on table reservations, and exclusive offers on dining reservations made through the EazyDiner app.

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