NAB doubles down on credit cards despite onslaught of fresh competition
NAB's acquisition of Citi's Australia consumer banking portfolio has doubled its credit card market share at a time when competition from BNPL and Amex is rising and stress in the economy builds.
National Australia Bank is doubling down on credit cards as momentum returns to the market despite economic headwinds and resurgent competitive threats in the form of American Express and buy now, pay later offerings.
Now the second-largest credit card issuer in Australia after buying Citi’s Australian consumer banking portfolio, NAB is building a new platform to house both NAB and former Citi customers with an infrastructure core provided by Fiserv’s VisionPLUS technology.
NAB’s head of the Citi integration and former head of the Citi consumer business, Alan Machet, told Capital Brief the bank believed there was a large opportunity in the higher value end of the credit card market despite a flattening economy and competition.
Credit cards, being unsecured lending, are a higher risk product and hence delinquencies rise as economic conditions fall. In its 2023 annual result, NAB reported card and personal lending stress began inching up in 2023 with repayments 90 days past due rising to 0.71% of total loans in September 2023, compared to 0.62% a year earlier.
