As a part of the restructuring initiative, after appointing .Diwakar Gupta, one of the top executives of State Bank of India,(SBI) as the chief executive officer of SBI Cards & Payment Services(SBICPSL), the company has decided to diversify into other retail financial products.

Under this new strategic initiative, SBICPSL which had suffered a loss of Rs 150 crore during 2007-08 will now foray into high-growth consumer financial services industry by offering other consumer financial products, such as personal loans and credit insurance, effectively expanding the scope of the JV.

Also second joint venture between SBI and GE, GE Capital Business Processes Management Services Pvt. (GEBPMSL), will leverage the scale of its processing platforms to serve other providers in India, in addition to SBI Card?s products and services. However SBI and GE would maintain the same percentage ownership in both JVs.

OP Bhatt, chairman, SBI had met Yoshiaki Fujimori, president & CEO, GE Money Asia on Wednesday and had announced jointly plans to take the 10 year old strategic partnership to a new level of growth and expansion in the future,

This move is a natural extension of the JV?s leadership in the credit card space, and the success enjoyed by both partners. By cross-selling related financial services and products to its existing large pool of customers, the JV will also be offering an enriched portfolio of products to help customers realize their financial needs.

SBI Cards, a joint venture between GE and SBI, is the number 2 card player in India, one of the fastest-growing consumer financial services markets in the world. The SBI Card JV will continue to operate, as it has since the partnership was formed, under two separate JVs.

SBICPSL, which focuses on the marketing and distribution of SBI Cards, and which handles the technology and processing needs of the JV. The partners had decided that to enable a higher level of responsiveness to customer needs, a CEO will be appointed for each JV, and both these entities would look at expanding the scope of their service offerings.

Fujimori said, ?This new structure enables both GE and SBI to continue to bring innovative financial products and services to India?s growing consumer base. India offers GE a tremendous opportunity for growth and investment and our partnership with SBI will play a core role in our strategic growth plans going forward.?