Top 5 Factors Affecting Customers’ Choice of Credit Card Services

According to figures from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total amount spent on credit cards has risen to Rs 62,335 crores in January 2011. This comes as a surprise for most people, as India has been traditionally known for its conservative spending patterns. This leads us to the most obvious question: what is it that is enticing the Indian population to use credit card services extensively? A little research brings to light some interesting and relevant facts:

Factors Influencing Customers’ Choice of Credit Card Services In India

The Hindu Business Line (one of the nation’s leading business dailies), conducted a survey to find out factors that influenced their choice of credit card services. Customers were given a list of attributes to rank. The top 5 factors, according to the survey, are:

Brand: 30% of those surveyed voted the brand of credit card companies as being the leading factor. This seems surprising at first sight, but does not seem so on careful thought. The India population had been largely discontented with the poor services of nationalized banks. Multinational commercial banks brought customer service and professionalism to their banking activities. The Indian population, therefore, trusts the service capabilities of these banks and hence prefers subscribing to their credit cards.

Credit Limit: 23% of those surveyed said that credit limit was the most important factor for them to choose credit card services. A large portion of these happened to be middle class businesspersons and shop owners. Ironically, according to the same study, Indians have one of the lowest per capita spend on credit cards. It seems like they want to have big credit limits, but not use it.

Card Design: 8% choose credit card services based on the design of the card. This defies the myth that in India, form follows function. The nouveau rich are more inclined towards style; so, service providers that offer stylish cards help them express their personality.

Interest Rates: A meager 5% of those surveyed brought up the topic of interest rates. While almost all of them believed that the interest rates charged by credit cards were too high. They felt that the rates offered by all banks were more or less the same and there was barely anything to choose from.

Bank Staff Recommendations: 2% would follow the advice given to them by their relationship managers while selecting their credit card provider. This pertains to the High Net worth Individuals (HNI) segment that uses the relationship manager as a single point of contact for any issue related to the bank.