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INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - November 16th December 31st 2008
CREDIT CARD ISSUERS CUT DIRECT SELLING AGENTS (DSA) BY 25%
BANKS and credit card issuers such as ICICI Bank, Citibank and HSBC, have reduced their cold calls to potential customers by around 50% as against 200 calls made in a day even six months ago, as per credit card industry estimates. It is learnt that private banks have slashed the number of direct selling agents (DSA), who were given the job to sell credit cards to consumers, by as much as 25% in the last six months.
A senior official of a leading Mumbai-based private sector bank, on conditions of anonymity said, “We have curtailed the use of DSAs in India as the concept is not working as per our expectation. Also, with the economy slowing down and prices moving northwards, we are becoming careful about unsecure lending at this critical juncture.”
A senior official of HDFC Bank, who did not wish to be named, said: “We have relied more on our in-house team to sell credit cards as it helps connect with customers better.” As per estimates of Credit Card Management Consultancy (CCMC), a firm that tracks the credit card industry, private banks have reduced marketing expenses significantly on these channels by over 25% in the last few months. “Banks are now shifting focus from DSAs to other channels for selling credit cards. They are also trying to generate most of the business through their in-house sales teams,” said CCMC director Vijay Mehta.
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