StanChart regional head Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar (centre), in Calcutta on Friday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, May 13: Standard Chartered Bank has set a target of selling nearly 2.34 million credit cards in the current year, increasing its card business by 30 per cent.

The bank ranks third in the country in credit card sales with ICICI Bank and Citibank being in the first and second position, respectively. StanChart?s credit card portfolio stands at 1.8 million users.

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, regional head (east), said, ?In 2004-05, the credit card business grew by 30 per cent and we are aiming a similar growth in this fiscal as well. Our delinquencies in the credit card business has come down sharply following a business reshuffle.?

The credit card usage in the country is still at a nascent stage and a survey conducted by Mastercard says that only 14 per cent Indians use credit cards.

He added that the bank is taking steps internally to tackle the problem of telemarketing. ?It is a serious problem and we are taking steps to put a check on telecallers.?

The Reserve Bank of India has pulled up banks on uncontrolled usage of telemarketing to get business.

A report on banking operations submitted to the RBI by the Tarapore Committee mentioned that the banks are using the ruse of ?know your customer? (KYC) to gather additional information about the client, unrelated to the bank account, which is then used to cross-sell other products.

On the basis of the report, the Reserve Bank has issued a circular asking banks not to use such information for cross-selling products and services. The information may be collected separately and on a voluntary basis, where the banks have to mention the objectives and take the approval of the customer for using such information.

Standard Chartered Bank today tied up with Palladian Lounge ? the club at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry building ? to introduce its gold card for the members of the chamber.