M and A
Mumbai Bank Takes Over Deutsche Bank's Credit Card Business

Mumbai-based
IndusInd Bank has taken over the Indian credit card business
of
Deutsche Bank.
As a result of the acquisition, the bank adds around 200,000 more
clients to its base. This complements IndusInd's goal to boost
its local consumer banking scope by entering a new financial
services segment. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It has become a trend among foreign players in India to unload
some of their businesses and focus on their core offerings,
mostly because of the limited branch licenses issued by India's
central bank every year.
"Our agreement with IndusInd Bank is in line with our desire to
build our retail banking business in India around our core
strengths of deposits, wealth management, and secured lending,"
said
Prashant Joshi, the head of the private and business clients
division.
India is a highly attractive market for the credit card business
due mostly to the continuously expanding affluent middle class.
The country also has a largely untapped credit card client
potential, with only 3 per cent of the population having credit
cards, compared to 20 per cent in China.