Standard Chartered Bank expects growth in the credit card business to slow down this year and probably the next, as consumers turn cautious, with some even cutting back on their spending habits, given a stressful economic environment.

Simon Yuen, country head for Standard Chartered consumer banking division, told reporters that the bank would still expect a double-digit growth in the number of credit cards issued albeit at a slower pace.

After a 30-percent increase in credit card issuances last year, StanChart expects growth of 15-20 percent this year, taking into account a projected slowdown in the economy, which is influenced partly by adverse consumer behavior, Yuen said.

StanChart has about 180,000-200,000 credit cards issued.

“A lot of growth you saw in the last few years in the credit card market was accounted for by additional cards given to people who were already existing cardholders,” Yuen said at the sidelines of the launch of the StanChart-Nokia credit card Tuesday night. “Now I think there’ll be a consolidation phase in which customers will find themselves not anymore in a position to hold more cards.”

Yuen said StanChart would be aggressive in using new marketing tactics. He said this was why it agreed to partner with mobile phone leader Nokia.

Holders of the StanChart-Nokia credit card may enjoy a 10.0-percent rebate on prepaid loan transactions, a 5.0-percent rebate on post-paid mobile phone bills, 0.5-percent discount on all non-installment purchases made using the credit card, and discounts on purchases of various Nokia phones.

Supratim Pandey, StanChart general manager for credit cards and personal loans, said the credit card would also allow holders who are into prepaid mobile phone line service to reload by texting a code to a designated number. The amount of load will be charged through the credit card.

Yuen said that with its partnership with Nokia, the bank expected its customer base to increase 10-15 percent over the short term. Edited by INQUIRER.net