SBI Card to focus on “hyper-personalisation” for improved customer engagement: Rama Mohan Rao Amara

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In the next two years, SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd (SBI Card), the country’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, will focus on “hyper-personalisation” as part of its overall efforts to improve customer engagement, Rama CEO and CEO Mohan Rao Amara said.

“Over-allocation is one of the areas we want to focus on. This is a multi-year project that requires significant investment. This is definitely a major project that we will continue to pursue in the next two years,” Amara said. business line In an interview, on the eve of the company completing its 25-year journey on May 15.

He was responding to an inquiry about areas of focus for SBI Card in the short to medium term. Rao said the SBI card will continue on its journey of digital transformation — launched a few years ago, focusing on innovation and ramping up its artificial intelligence (AI) playbook.

From one level of lakh cards in force – a financial term representing the number of cards issued and outstanding – as of 2000, SBI Card currently has a CIF of over 16.5 million.

The introduction of digital technologies and the rise of data analytics has given rise to a new phenomenon called overpersonalisation. To over-personalise, credit card issuers use data to personalize their products and services to individual customers.

The SBI card currently ranks second in the credit card industry with an effective card market share of 19.7 percent for FY23 (18.7 percent in FY22) and market share in spending at 18.2 percent for FY23 (FY22: 19.2 percent). .

Hyper customization

Credit card over-allocation is a strategy that involves collecting data about customers to create customized offers, promotions, and rewards that are more relevant to their spending habits and financial goals.

Over-personalization allows credit card companies to provide customers with a personalized experience beyond the traditional rewards program. For example, instead of offering generic rewards such as cashback or points, issuers can offer rewards tailored to a customer’s interests and spending patterns.

For example, a customer who frequently shops at a particular store or prefers to travel on a particular airline, can receive offers or discounts from that store or airline. This type of personalized service not only enhances customer experience, but also helps credit card issuers increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.

“We want to have the ability to customize the offer at the same customer level. Right now our ability is just to look at a broad customer segment or a small group of customers and make a comprehensive offer.

Currently, SBI Card only has a broad brush approach at a specific customer segment level where your value proposition goes directly to a broader customer segment.

One of the main advantages of over-allocation is that it can help credit card issuers better understand the financial behavior of their customers. By collecting and analyzing data, issuers can gain insights into spending patterns, purchase history, and financial goals. This allows them to develop more targeted marketing campaigns, offer more relevant products and services, and provide personalized financial advice.

Another benefit of over-allocation is that it can help exporters identify potential risks. For example, if a customer suddenly begins making unusual purchases, such as large purchases in unfamiliar locations, this could be a sign of fraudulent activity.

RuPay-UPI credit card link

SBI Card, the industry’s largest RuPay credit card issuer, sees a “major opportunity” in the RuPay credit card, following RBI’s decision to allow its integration with the Unified Payments Interface. UPI is an instant and real-time payment system developed by NPCI that facilitates peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant (PTM) interbank transactions.

“The potential for small-ticket transactions to happen in the PTM space, not on credit card but on debit card or deposit accounts.. There is potential for these expenses to be carried over to credit card once all players link. We are optimistic about that link,” Amara said.