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Punjab National Bank (PNB) is targeting more than 13 lakh credit cards by the end of FY27 and expects its card business to produce about Rs 200 crore in income every quarter from FY28, Managing Director and CEO Ashok Chandra said in an October 2026 interview. The Rs 200 crore figure is forward guidance, not reported FY28 performance. PNB says its card base is now around 11 lakh, compared with 6.04 lakh in March 2025, as it rebuilds its digital platform and expands schemes and partnerships.
What exactly is PNB forecasting for its credit-card business?
Chandra’s guidance has two parts: a volume target of more than 13 lakh cards by FY27-end and an income ambition of roughly Rs 200 crore per quarter beginning in FY28. In India, FY27 ends in March 2027 and FY28 begins in April 2027. The bank has not reported actual FY28 quarterly card income; the figure should therefore be read as a management objective rather than an achieved result or a guaranteed run rate.
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Chandra said PNB is “aiming to cross 13 lakh credit card in this financial year.” The expected income would make cards a more material fee-income business alongside the bank’s traditional lending operations.
How has PNB’s card base changed?
PNB’s reported card counts vary by interview date, so each snapshot needs its date attached rather than being averaged into one supposedly precise figure.
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| Reported period or date | Card-base figure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| March 2025 | 6.04 lakh | Baseline cited by PNB management in the October 2026 report |
| January 20, 2026 | About 6 lakh | Executive Director Bibhu Prasad Mahapatra said PNB expected 10 lakh by March 2026 and 20 lakh by March 2027 |
| March 31, 2026 | About 9 lakh | Reported by ET Now; the bank was described as nearing 10 lakh at publication |
| March 2026 | About 9 lakh | Hubbis reported roughly 900,000 cardholders, up from 660,000 a year earlier |
| October 2026 report | Around 11 lakh | Latest figure attributed to Chandra, with a target above 13 lakh by FY27-end |
The differences reflect separate reports made at different points in 2026 and, in some cases, different descriptions of the measurement date or cardholder base. They do not establish a single audited series. ET Now reported that PNB’s rebuilt platform took about five months to put together and that scaling began in November 2025.
What is PNB doing to reach the target?
PNB says it is rebuilding the card platform around digital infrastructure, new product schemes and tie-ups. Those are the stated growth levers; the bank has not disclosed in the cited interviews how much of the projected income would come from interchange, annual fees, interest or other card-related charges.
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Digital infrastructure
The bank’s platform rebuild is intended to support faster acquisition and servicing as volumes rise. ET Now’s account says the platform was assembled in roughly five months before the bank began scaling it in November 2025.
Schemes and partnerships
New schemes and external tie-ups are the other elements management identified. Their commercial terms, partner names and expected contribution to fee income were not specified in the published interviews, so the Rs 200 crore objective cannot be allocated among individual initiatives.
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A wider fee-income strategy
Cards are part of a broader effort to expand non-interest income. PNB is also preparing a wealth-management offering. In describing that build-out, Chandra said a customer-relationship-management rollout was “the first step” undertaken, according to ET Now.
How does PNB Luxura fit into the expansion?
PNB Luxura is the bank’s premium metal card for high-net-worth customers. It is a focused product within the broader card strategy, not a substitute for the mass-market card base.
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| Dimension | Mainstream card expansion | PNB Luxura |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Broad PNB card customer base | High-net-worth customers |
| Scale target | More than 13 lakh total cards by FY27-end | 100,000 customers or cards as the stated ambition |
| Reported scale | Around 11 lakh in the latest October 2026 report | Nearly 25,000 customers in ET Now; about 27,000 in Hubbis |
| Strategic role | Platform-led volume and fee-income growth | Premium positioning and affluent-customer acquisition |
The Luxura figures are also dated snapshots from separate reports. Neither the premium sub-target nor the overall card target demonstrates that the projected FY28 income has already been secured.
What did PNB say earlier about its card ambitions?
PNB’s targets have moved as the platform expanded. On January 20, 2026, Executive Director Bibhu Prasad Mahapatra told Financial Express: “We have a credit card base of around 600,000 and we are expecting to reach 1 million credit cards by March 2026 and 2 million by March 2027.” Later reports described a smaller March 2027 objective, followed by Chandra’s October guidance of more than 13 lakh by FY27-end. These statements show changing management targets, not a restatement of audited results.
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What should customers and investors watch next?
- Whether PNB discloses card balances, active-card ratios and spending volumes alongside headline card counts.
- Whether the bank reports card-fee income separately enough to test progress toward the FY28 objective.
- How quickly the digital platform, schemes and tie-ups translate into activated and regularly used cards rather than applications alone.
- Whether Luxura grows without weakening the economics or service quality of the wider portfolio.
- Any formal FY28 results, which will be the first evidence of realized quarterly card income rather than guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are PNB’s reported card numbers different across 2026 articles?
The statements came from interviews and reports published at different times, and they refer to different snapshots such as March 2026 or the later October update. Some reports also use “cardholders” while others describe the overall card base, so the dates and terminology matter.
When did PNB begin scaling its rebuilt card platform?
ET Now reported that the rebuilt platform took about five months to develop and that scaling activity began in November 2025. That timing helps explain why the bank’s reported base changed rapidly during 2026.
Is PNB’s credit-card income target an audited forecast?
No. It is management guidance attributed to Ashok Chandra. The cited reports do not provide audited FY28 quarterly card-income results or a filing that guarantees the target.
What other fee-income business is PNB developing?
PNB is planning a wealth-management offering as part of its wider non-interest-income push. Chandra said a customer-relationship-management rollout was an initial step in that build-out.
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