Citibank targets India

Citibank targets India

WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S.-owned Citibank has targeted India as a major credit market, stating in a report that by the year 2000, it will rank second to Southeast Asia in terms of cardholders.

"After witnessing a period of exponential growth in the number of cards issued in Southeast Asian nations, card issuers see India as the next big market", the independent research group Center for Global Trade Development said in a report.

According to estimates compiled by Visa, the number of cardholders should reach 10 million by 1998 up from its current level of one million.

Visa maintains that the potential for growth is enormous as there are currently about 40 million households in India whose annual earnings total more than US$30,000.