ICICI Bank and HPCL Launch Co-branded Visa Credit Cards

ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE: IBN), one of India's leading new private sector banks and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., India's second largest integrated oil refining and marketing company, today announced a tie-up to launch co-branded credit cards.

By using the co-branded card, a customer can now buy fuel at an HPCL outlet without having to pay the 2.5% service charge attracted on normal credit cards. Moreover, the ICICI Bank - HPCL cardholder can also redeem their reward points, earned at HPCL outlets or through any other transactions made on the card, for free fuel at HPCL outlets. A special feature of the cards is that the reward points, called speed'o'miles, will accrue even faster when the card is used at any HPCL retail outlet. The cardholders will also get attractive discounts on a range of vehicle accessories, tyres, batteries, PUC checks as well as servicing facilities available at the HPCL outlets. The cards can currently be used at 46 HPCL retail outlets apart from a host of other merchant locations in Mumbai. The Co-branded cards will be launched in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore during the course of the current financial year.

Launching the co-branded card, Mr H. N. Sinor, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank said, "this initiative is another step in our effort to bring value propositions to varied customer segments, thus deepening our relationships with the customer." Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank added, "Our co-branded cards offer value add, safety, simplicity and convenience to the consumers. We are hopeful that the benefits offered would motivate more cash purchasers of fuel to use the credit card."

Mr. S. K. Kapoor, Director (Marketing) of HPCL said "This card has been specially designed keeping in mind the changing needs of the Indian vehicle owners. HP Retail Outlets are now offering a bundle of products, services as well as convenience with no additional load on the customer. The conversion of speed'o'miles reward points earned on the card into free fuel and discounts on a range of vehicle accessories and servicing will definitely appeal to our customers".

Santanu Mukherjee, Country Manager, South Asia, Visa International, said, "Cardholders are realizing the power and convenience associated with credit cards and are increasingly using it in their daily activities. Petrol is one of the fastest growing card usage segments for Visa in India and grew by over 145% last year. With its suite of benefits, the ICICI Bank-HPCL co-branded Visa credit card will further increase the use of plastic money and grow the payment card industry."

The ICICI Bank - HPCL credit card is an internationally accepted VISA card and will have all the features of a regular ICICI Bank Sterling Silver credit card such as self-set limits, balance transfer facility, infinity web access, dial-a-draft, travel benefits, comprehensive insurance, etc. ICICI Bank & HPCL will jointly market the card. An interested party can either contact a direct marketing agent of the bank or an HPCL dealer to apply for the ICICI Bank-HPCL card.

An ICICI Bank - HPCL Credit Card will have the following features:

• Reward Points: 2 speed'o'miles reward points for every Rs.125 spent at HPCL & HP Speedmart outlets. The 2 points are equivalent to Rs.2/-. These points can be redeemed for free fuel at select HPCL outlets. For all other transactions the card user gets 1 speed'o'mile reward point for every Rs.100 spent on the card. These points can also be redeemed for free fuel at select HPCL outlets.
• Draft-On-Phone: a card-member can call the 24-hour customer call center and request a demand draft up to his available cash limit, favoring any company or individual at places where credit cards are not accepted. The draft would be delivered at the card member's mailing address.
• Relationship Pricing: as cardholders, these customers will be eligible for special relationship price on the suite of ICICI products such as Auto loans, personal loans etc.
• Others: the customer will also be entitled to all other benefits of a ICICI Bank Credit Card such as utility bill payment facility, insurance related benefits, 'infinity' web based access, special discounts on domestic and international travel fares, global customer assistance services.

ICICI Bank, the banking arm of the ICICI Group is one of the largest private sector Banks in India with a deposit base of Rs. 16,378 crore as on March 31, 2001, net profits of Rs. 161.89 crore for Fiscal 2001. ICICI Bank currently has a customer base of more than 3.7 million customer accounts. It offers an array of credit and liability products to individuals and companies and services customers through multiple channels including nearly 357 branches and 37 extension counters, 572 ATMs, Internet Banking and Call Centres (as on June30, 2001). ICICI Bank listed its stock on the New York Stock Exchange through an issue of American Depositary Shares in March 2000, making it only the second financial services entity (first being ICICI Limited) to do so in India.

HPCL is India's second largest integrated refining and marketing company. The Public Sector Enterprise has the distinction of being one of the 'Navratna' companies identified by the Indian Government. During the year 2000-2001, HPCL recorded a turnover in excess of Rs.470 billion, with a net profit of Rs.10.88 billion. With two coastal refineries, an extensive infrastructure including cross-country pipelines, depots, terminals, bottling points and a network of more than 4600 retail outlets all over the country, HPCL has been meeting the energy needs of millions of Indian consumers for over 26 years.

Except for the historical information contained herein, statements in this News Release that contain words or phrases such as 'will', 'would', "expect", "plan", "target" and similar expressions or variations of such expressions may constitute 'forward-looking statements'. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to our and ICICI Group's ability to obtain statutory and regulatory approvals and to successfully implement our strategy, the demand for co-branded credit cards, as well as other risks detailed in the reports filed by ICICI Bank with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. ICICI Bank undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof.

For further press queries please contact:
ICICI: Mr Charudatta Deshpande
Head Corporate Communications,
Tel: 022-26538208
Fax: 022 26531116
email: charudatta.deshpande@icicibank.com
HPCL: Anurag Jha at 2845158 or 2026151 (Extn. 3315).