``The main purpose for the World Cup promotion is to raise the awareness level of HSBC cards, to increase card-spends and to increase the consumer base for the card,'' says Cromwell.

The `I Cheer For India' campaign was kicked off in February and will be on till June 15. Besides promoting through commercials on television and recently through press ads, the bank has roped in celebrities like film stars for the promotion.

HSBC ranks second in the acquiring business, and has a cardholder base of one lakh. It is fifth in terms of issuing cards, and has grown four times in the last two years when it first started credit card operations in India.

Cromwell says that while the bank cannot maintain the same growth, it plans to touch the five lakh cardholder mark by the year2001. To help achieve the target, HSBC will go in for similar promotions every year. The `I Cheer For India' promotion gives consumers a chance to go to the World Cup free -- one, by introducing new cardmembers to HSBC and two, by spending more on the HSBC Credit Card. Other prizes being offered for the not-so-lucky include a BPL refrigerator, a ready-to-use mobile phone, a Sony cordless phone, a vacuum cleaner, etc. The new member referred to HSBC will enjoy special benefits like a complete waiver of the joining fee, which ranges from Rs 300 for a `Classic' card and Rs 500 for a `Gold' card.

The promotion is also aimed at increasing card-spends. For instance, a cardholder has a chance to go to the World Cup if he spends Rs 5,000 by May 31.

Cromwell said that like in Hong Kong where HSBC promotes its cards through annual charity programmes, in India too, the bank will mark its presence in a similar manner. ``The World Cup promo is the first such event which HSBC is promoting in India. HSBC will takefurther initiatives to expand its base on an annual basis. An amount per card will be donated to that particular cause,'' said Cromwell.

For instance, HSBC Credit Cards has pledged 10 per cent of the first year's annual fee for every new HSBC card issued up to the 1999 World Cup finals to two causes: contributions will be made to organisations dedicated to the training of upcoming Indian cricketers and towards special programmes committed to encouraging the game of cricket among the visually impaired.

Citibank is the leader in both the acquiring and primary issuance of cards in India. The industry growth has been around 30 per cent, with leader Citibank having a cardholder base of one million. Nearly a quarter of Citibank's cardbase is accounted for by Diners' charge card with Visa International and MasterCard International accounting for the rest.

HSBC has a market share of around 10-12 per cent in the two million credit card market and a 25 per cent share in the card-acquiring segment.