Federal Bank has inked a deal to acquire a select credit card portfolio from Standard Chartered Bank, India, according to a press release on Thursday.
The deal, expected to close within calendar year 2026, focuses on expanding Federal Bank's retail credit franchise and Tier-1 city presence.
The portfolio to be acquired comprises of up to 4.5 lakh credit cards, as against Federal Bank's existing base of 8 lakh non-co-branded cards and 13 lakh co-branded cards.
Federal Bank's non-co-branded credit cards receivables would increase by an anticipated 90%. The final portfolio, including the number of cards acquired, will depend on the timing of the final transfer and customer consent.
The transaction values the portfolio at 1.5 to 1.6 times implied equity as estimated by Federal Bank. The final consideration will be linked to actual balances at the time of transfer.
While for Federal Bank the deal expands its footprint in India's top eight cities, leading to Federal Bank's presence more than doubling in these locations.
Moreover, it also materially enhances the bank's presence in tier one cities. On the other hand, for Standard Chartered Bank, this announcement accelerates its previously announced strategy to consolidate and sharpen its focus in the wealth and affluent segment in India, and away from predominantly single-product relationships which are represented in this transaction.
Commenting on the deal, KVS Manian, MD and CEO of Federal Bank stated, "This acquisition represents a compelling and strategic addition to our retail credit franchise. The portfolio we are acquiring is of good quality, highly seasoned active credit card users, and is concentrated in the markets that align with our strategy."
He added that it further accelerates the growth of their already fast-growing cards business and that he sees this as a significant opportunity to serve these discerning customers better.
Virat Sunil Diwanji, National Head of Consumer Banking – Federal Bank, further noted, “We look forward to warmly welcoming Standard Chartered customers to the Federal Bank platform and engaging with them."
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