BPI Cards seen breaching 5M in 2011

MANILA, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is optimistic that its card business will surpass the five million level by the end of the year, with the introduction of more debit cards and other Internet-based cards.

BPI senior vice president and Cards Issuing Business head Maria Cristina L. Go said that the market has been maturing at the same time the bank has been introducing new card variants and other innovations.

“The cardholders are now consolidating their credit cards, and finding more use of card variants,” Go said during the launching of its electronic or e-Commerce business that is Internet-based.

A few years back, bank clients tend to have two or three credit cards at a time when debit cards and re-loadable or cash cards were in its embryonic stage.

Cardholders are now more mature, preferring to keep just one credit card, which offers wider domestic and international services and rewards. Likewise, the market has seen the proper use of debit and cash cards.

“They now have a choice, preferring to leapfrog and not remain boxed in with limited quality choices,” the BPI senior vice president said.

BPI has a card business of five million, broken down with 3.5 million automated teller machine (ATM) units, a little over one million credit cards, and 500,000 debit cards. Debit cards are considered the future as the market is more disciplined in card selection and in consumption habits. Credit cards are relatively more expensive albeit accessible than debit cards, which are based on the cardholders existing account.

“Effectively, credit cardholders are paying up to 40 percent per annum if they do not religiously pay up,” bank officials said. “Debit cards keep the bank client decent and disciplined.”

BPI credit card business accounts for approximately 12 percent of its consumer banking business. It issues at least seven variants of cards with 80 percent co-branded with MasterCard.

It has a merchant base of over 20,000, which includes airlines, hotels and restaurants, supermarkets, department stores and malls. Cards-in-force number a little over 6.5 million, still among the lowest in Asia.

Meanwhile, Go said that social media and on-line shopping has been growing in leaps and bounds.

“We have seen the tremendous growth of eCommerce, yet, there are many more who are wary of shopping online due to concerns on security and payment inconvenience,” the BPI senior vice president said.

Last week, BPI launched BPI eCredit and my ePrepaid Cards, BPICards.com, and DealMania.ph.

BPI eCredit Card, the first-ever virtual credit card exclusively designed for online shopping, llows BPI MasterCard cardholders greater peace of mind when shopping online.

And since it is a companion card of the BPI Express Credit MasterCard variants – Blue, Gold, Edge, Petron and Skymiles – it uses a different card number with its own sub-limit that cardholders can set and adjust as they need it.  

my ePrepaid card is a no-hassle, no-approval-required, reloadable prepaid card that empowers its holders to buy whatever they want from the widest selection of MasterCard-affiliated online shopping sites without having to worry about submitting documents or maintaining a balance. The prepaid card can buy airline tickets, concert passes, gadgets, fashion must-haves, and coupon deals.

BPICards.com is an interactive website where one can obtain up-to-date information on BPI cards features, promotions, and other items of interest to cardholders.

Exclusive to the website will be the Profiler feature, where those looking for the right credit card for them will first be asked about their lifestyle and preferences so BPI can recommend the credit card that suits them best.