When compared to markets similar to India, what is the growth of the plastic money market here?
India has a lot of potential, if one goes purely by numbers. I feel that innovation, the way a product is bundled, is the key and that s already happening. For instance, the prepaid card has changed the way one looks at plastic. Then there are relationship cards, affinity cards and variants within credit cards… all this is happening because there s a demand. Yes, the low number of unique cardholders is raked up often, however I would still say it depends on the maturity of the market. The idea of using a credit card is the same in India as in the rest of the world: to do away with money and increase spending through cards. The Indian market is unique because of its sheer size. When credit cards penetrate smaller towns and cities, growth will be vastly different from what it is now. What is MasterCard s share in the Indian card industry? Are there any significant trends that you see emerging in the realm of plastic money? We closed last year (December 2003) with 5.5 million credit car
