Ola, Flipkart find a trump card to track user spends - ET Retail
The move is seen giving these companies insight into the spending pattern of their card users and helping them enter an under-penetrated credit market..
- Ride-hailing startup Ola is set to launch a credit card, likely in partnership with State Bank of India (SBI), and begin pilots as early as next week, the persons cited earlier said, adding that the company plans to issue 1 million cards in the first year, leveraging its 150 million customer base.
- While the terms of these partnerships differ across platforms, a bank typically handles risk analysis, card issuance, payment processing, credit line management and statement processing, while the merchant partner controls marketing, promotions and discounts.
- "Unlike traditional brand partnerships that focussed only on marketing, these rewards are now going to be structured in such a way that these technology companies can back-calculate the customers' spending patterns," said one of the persons cited earlier.
- A person directly aware of the company's plan said the "broader strategy is to offer wider services aligned with mobility and beyond, with a digital first onboarding experience, real-time expense management and instant rewards system linked to spends".