Bandhan Bank shares rose roughly 4.5 percent over the past two sessions after the lender introduced four Mastercard-branded credit cards on Tuesday. The move arrives as system-wide credit growth accelerates and unsecured lending steadies following the Reserve Bank of India’s 2023 tightening cycle.
Secured book shifts toward target
Secured advances now account for 56.8 percent of the loan book, up from 52.1 percent a year earlier, with management signaling an eventual 60 percent target. At the same time, credit costs have dropped by half year-on-year to 1.8 percent in the June quarter, and the full-year guidance of 1.6-1.8 percent leaves room for further improvement. Gross non-performing assets have declined to 3.1 percent from 5 percent in the same quarter last year.
Issuance outpaces spending
Industry expansion has been fueled by card issuance rather than usage. In July, transaction volumes climbed 24.5 percent year-on-year, more than three times the pace of spend growth, while the average ticket slipped nearly 14 percent to about ₹3,440, according to ICICI Securities data.
Franchise math and the competition gap
Bandhan’s 32 million customers offer a ready pool, and a simple read-across from SBI Cards, which targets 150-200 million credit-card prospects from a 530 million base, suggests a theoretical addressable market of around 10 million for Bandhan. That figure is aspirational; SBI’s distribution reach and customer depth are far larger. The real test will be winning active, high-spending users without relaxing underwriting standards. At 0.9 times FY28 estimated book value per Bloomberg consensus, spend per card, acquisition cost, and unsecured credit risk remain the metrics to watch.