The people mentioned above said that both the banks are investigating further, as all the details of the book were not revealed in the initial rounds. Kotak Mahindra’s bid could be much higher than that of Axis, which has a huge retail book and Credit Card base, he said.
“Kotak Mahindra Bank has emerged as the most aggressive bidder, Axis is also in the fray. It will be a purely cash deal and the final contours are being worked out,” said a person.
Bidders Negotiating Cash Payment, Fee
“The bidders are negotiating a cash payment, fee and commission, which they will pay to the Citi team to service the consumer book,” the person said.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank did not respond to ET’s queries.
“We continue to engage with all the bidders as we move forward with the process,” a Citi India spokesperson said.
ET had reported in October that Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank had submitted binding bids for Citi’s consumer business in India. Singapore’s DBS, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank had evaluated the deal but ultimately did not bid.
Axis Bank is the fourth largest issuer of credit cards with a total base of 7.74 million cards. Its retail book is above Rs 3.45 lakh crore. Kotak, on the other hand, has an outstanding credit card book of Rs 4,363 crore, up from Rs 4,378 crore a year ago. As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, Kotak had 2.54 million credit cards in October as against Citi’s 2.58 million. Kotak’s retail book is a little less than Rs 1 lakh crore, while Citi’s is around Rs 68,000 crore, of which retail loans are at Rs 28,000 crore.
‘Keep an eye on marquee clients’
“Compared to Axis, the Kotak team is more keen on acquiring the Citi business. It is also taking great care in expanding its unsecured book, including credit cards,” said a person mentioned above. “With this acquisition, it will get a major clientele and excellent retail franchise.”
Although Citi is India’s sixth largest card issuer, it has lost market share on card spend – from 20% a decade ago to 4% now. However, it has consistently recorded 15-25% higher spend per card than the industry average, according to an analysis by Macquarie. The mix of premium and corporate salary account cards in the portfolio makes Citi Business attractive to bidders.
Citi’s consumer business in India includes credit cards, retail banking, home loans and wealth management. The bank has 35 branches in the country and employs 4,000 people in the consumer banking business. It contributes one third to the overall business but in terms of profitability, corporate banking accounts for over 80%.
Overall, Citibank’s Indian arm of advances and deposits had a market share of 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively. in India, City Bank It has over 2.5 million retail customers and 1.2 million bank accounts. Total India business contributes 1.5% of the profit to the lender’s global book.
Citibank, under its first female CEO, Jane Fraser, decided to exit the retail business in 13 markets to conserve capital and focus on high-yielding revenue streams. City management has indicated that the exit process is currently underway and while it will try to complete these separations in a timely manner, the retreat will be nothing akin to the so-called fire sale.