Dena Bank in pact with SBI Cards to boost fee income

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run Dena Bank has tied up with SBI Cards & Payments Services Pvt Ltd to launch a co-branded credit card in order to boost its fee-based income, a senior official of the bank said on Monday.

The bank had its own credit card with a member base of 10,000 including 6,000 active members, Executive Director Bhaskar Sen told reporters.

"Banking and credit card management are different and our core competence lies in banking, so we decided to partner with a professional organisation for credit cards," he said.

The underlying credit risks would lie with SBI Cards while Dena Bank would provide referral services, he said. SBI Cards is a joint venture between State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, and GE Money.

Shares in the bank ended 7.23 percent higher at 31.15 rupees in a firm Mumbai market.