Credit card issuers and payment service companies are blatantly ignoring the low penetration level of ordinary credit cards in the Indian market; instead, they have trotted out the supposition that Indians are just not susceptible to the `one size fits all' proprietary credit cards. They need co-branded cards, which draw on the strengths of two or more partners and offer greater value.

As a result, there are more than a hundred co-branded credit cards in the Indian market today, most of them launched very recently. Some of them are globally acceptable, others only domestically, but almost all involve a foreign bank. Citibank has the largest number of co-branded cards, followed by American Express, Standard Chartered Bank and Hongkong Bank.

Let's take a look at some of these cards, beginning with those most recently launched.

August saw the launch of two co-branded cards: the Jet Airways Citibank Card and the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Bank American Express Card.

The Jet Airways Citibank Card is a Mastercard franchisee card with global validity. It is suitable for frequent flyers, especially business travellers, as a cardholder earns three Jet point miles for every Rs 100 spent through the card. Accumulated points can be combined with frequent flyer miles earned on Jet Airways flights or those of its programme partners, like KLM Royal Dutch Airline, Northwest Airlines and British Airways, to win free flights.

The Jet Airways Citibank Card includes all the value-added features of the Citibank Gold Card, including personal accident insurance benefit of up to Rs 20 lakh and insurance benefits on loss of baggage, passport or tickets.

The eligibility criteria for this card is a bit higher though-a minimum annual income of Rs 1.56 lakh. The annual fee is Rs 2,000 and the interest rate 2.95 per cent per month on the outstanding credit balance.

The J&K Bank American Express Card is a Visa franchisee card. This is also an global card and is meant for high net-worth people, primarily J&K Bank customers. The card offers balance transfer facility, membership rewards and emergency cash withdrawal and direct debit facility, whereby a cardholder can issue standing instructions to J&K Bank to settle the minimum payment due on their credit card account.

Both Citibank and Bank of Baroda have co-branded petro cards that work in partnership with Indian Oil. Citibank issues the Indian Oil Citibank Card, a Mastercard franchisee domestic card. This is the only card in the Indian market that does not require its holder to pay any transaction cost when he buys petrol from an Indian Oil outlet. Besides, he gets a 5 per cent discount when he buys AMCO or Exide car batteries from an authorised dealer with this card, Rs 1,000 off on MRF Autocat painting charges at select centres, 10 per cent discount on JK radial tyres and 20 per cent discount on a preventive health check-up at Apollo Hospital.

Another interesting feature is that a cardholder earns one Turbo point for every Rs 100 spent through the card. These points can be accumulated to get free petrol. However, a minimum 150 points should be accumulated, and in multiples of 50 points, for redemption.

To get an Indian Oil Citibank Card, an applicant should have a minimum annual salary of Rs 96,000 if employed in a private concern, and Rs 72,000 if employed in a government department. The monthly interest rate on the credit balance is 2.95 per cent, the annual fee Rs 750.

The Bharat BoBcard Premium Card is a Visa franchisee global card, issued by BoBcards Ltd, a subsidiary of the Bank of Baroda, in partnership with Bharat Petroleum. You need a minimum annual income of Rs 1 lakh to apply for this card. Though the card's annual fee is lower than other global cards (Rs 750), the monthly interest rate on outstanding credit balance is higher at 3 per cent. There is also an additional 2.5 per cent transaction fee charged when a cardholder buys petroleum products. However, he can draw a cash advance of up to Rs 10,000.

Co-branded cards in the service sector include the American Express MTNL Card and the Standard Chartered Rail Card. However, these two cards are limited by the regions where they can be used. The American Express MTNL Card can be used to pay MTNL telephone bills only in Delhi and Mumbai, while the Standard Chartered Rail Card is issued only in Delhi for buying Indian Railway tickets. Moreover, a cardholder has to pay an additional Rs 50 for each telebooking of rail tickets.

While the American Express MTNL Card is useful for those who incur huge monthly telephone bills, the Standard Chartered Rail Card is meant for those who travel frequently in superfast trains. The annual fee for the former is Rs 750, and that for the latter, Rs 800.

Holding an American Express MTNL Card is advantageous for it offers a 1.7 per cent cash back facility on annual bill payments made through it. It also charges a lower interest rate of 2.89 per cent and provides other facilities like free caller line identification and balance transfer from other credit cards. You need a minimum annual salary of Rs 72,000 for this card.

Standard Chartered Bank and Amway India Enterprises, a direct selling company, have got together to offer the Standard Chartered Amway Card. The Visa card is meant for Amway distributors who can purchase their goods through the card either on telephone or through mail order.

Standard Chartered Bank has also partnered with the Hindustan Lever subsidiary, Aviance Ltd, to offer the Standard Chartered Aviance Card, which offers a wide range of customer rewards on purchase of Aviance beauty products or for consulting Aviance beauty consultants.

Thomas Cook (I) Ltd is another of Standard Chartered Bank's partners. The Thomas Cook Standard Chartered Card, a global Visa card, is meant to be used for travel and entertainment expenses by large corporates, individual frequent business travellers and high-flying leisure travellers.

American Express Bank has initiated talks for a co-branded card with Indian Airlines so that it can cater to frequent travellers. Besides, the bank has co-branded cards with Quantas Airlines, Alitalia, Air France, Delta Airlines and Aero Mexico.

Among other prominent co-branded cards available now are the First Citizens' Club Card, issued by Hongkong Bank in partnership with Shoppers' Stop. A Mastercard franchisee, the First Citizens' Club Card offers lucrative discounts when a cardholder shops at any Shoppers' Stop retail outlet.

Among hotel cards, there are the Bank of India Taj Card and Mahindra Stanchart Card. Valid only in India and Nepal, the Bank of India Taj Card offers discounts and priority check-in at Taj hotels in both countries. You need a minimum annual income of Rs 2,00,000 to apply for this card. The annual fee is Rs 800, the monthly interest rate 2.5 per cent.

The Mahindra Stanchart Card also gives you priority check-in and check-out at the Mahindra run Guestline Hotels.