Card-Spends are increasing and issuing banks are racing to out do their competitors by offering innovative schemes. Structured reward programmes, promos, affinity and co-branded cards...card players have them all.

But the essence of the game is networking, be it with a service provider or a leading brand company, leading to a win-win situation for all -- merchant outlets, cardholders and issuers.

Leading card issuers like Citibank, StanChart, HSBC and AmEx have in their suite some rewards or promo offers. Not to mention co-branded and picture-cards. And it is all aimed at just one thing: improving card-spends.

Not that it is not happening. Card-spends are growing at the annual rate of around 25-30 per cent and are currently over Rs 14,000 per annum on Silver Classic cards and around Rs 38,000 on Gold cards. However, success is not built on averages. The winners in the card game will be those who manage to better the averages by a significant margin. Which means you have to make cardholders to spend more on their card, especially if they have multiple cards.

StanChart recently announced a rewards programme with discounts on products from HLL for its `Aviance' range of products. The launch was the first instance of a card-issuer targeting the "entrepreneurial" class: women who hawk the `Aviance' range, but without any financial support from Levers. The 45-day interest-free period on the `StanChart-Aviance' card helps these direct marketing agents to source more of the `Aviance' range, even as it gifts StanChart with bigger spends. This is a classic case of a card issuer and a corporate coming together to create a `win-win' situation.

In addition, StanChart is in the final stages of freezing a rewards programme with Philips, the Taj and Oberoi group of hotels. Deals on ‘Executive Rasoi’ come with a discount scheme that offers up to 25 per cent off on card-spends at select restaurants numbering 275 across 35 cities. These eaterties have been specially identified by noted food critic Rashmi Uday Singh.

Citibank’s co-branded fare includes those with Vysya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Philips, British Airways, IOC, affinity cards for women, and with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The last mentioned offers a 10 per cent discount on all WWF products.

"As the card market matures, co-brands and affinities will fuel growth. This has been the experience in advanced countries. India still has scope for regular credit cards. However, there are segments looking for affinity and co-branded cards," says Citibank, manager-cards, MN Murali.

In recent times, Citibank has allowed a "chequing facility" against the card-limit, and even a `loan-on-phone' scheme: the Bank is effectively giving cardholders the benefits of "traditional" retail banking (against your bank account or a loan option) on the credit card!

In the case of HSBC, it is currently running a promo exhorting its cardholders to spend at Crossroads, a shopping mall at Haji Ali in south Mumbai.

The Bank offered its cardholders a coupon for every Rs 1,000 spent at Crossroads: the prize after a draw is an Opel Astra.

In case, you miss out on the first position, you could still bag a membership at Royal Palms Golf and Country Club for a year or at least a membership sans golf facilities.

HSBC also has a global calling card in association with Global One for its `Gold' cardholders that enables you to make international calls and settle dues in rupees. Citibank and AmEx also offer the Global One card for holders of their international cards.

Reward programmes typically work like this: on every spend, the cardholder gets a certain number of points. Once these points accumulate, they can be exchanged for gifts, including leather accessories, CDs, apparel, and even five-star dinners and airline tickets.

HSBC don't have an aggressive rewards programme. Says HSBC's Sr manager (personal banking) Richard JO Cromwell, "We may not have a rewards programme at the moment, but promotions offer equal value for money. We plan to introduce a rewards programme before the end of the year."