Indian private sector lender HDFC Bank is looking to raise up to $1bn in capital via offshore loans, Moneycontrol reported, citing a Bloomberg report.

The bank could borrow the sum for a tenor of up to five years, the sources told the publication.

HDFC Bank is looking to tap into the market as early as January 2023 as it expects a strong credit demand.

In a separate report, Bloomberg reported that the bank is gearing up to issue a million credit cards a month.

HDFC Bank’s country head for payments business, consumer finance, digital banking and marketing Parag Rao told the publication that the bank will announce a series of partnerships across a range of industries in the coming weeks.

According to Rao, other than retail and food delivery, the partnerships would also include two airlines and a large hotel chain.

In addition, the bank is also in the final stages of developing a new credit card offering to attract younger customers, he added.

Part of the credit card expansion drive will be linked to HDFC Bank’s merger with Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), which will give the bank access to mortgage customers, Rao noted.

Apart from partnerships, the bank also aims to target customers who use RuPay’s credit cards.

“The credit lines for such customers will be small but these will be customers of the future, who can upgrade to other cards as they evolve,” Rao stated.

The development comes after the BSE and the NSE approved the merger between HDFC Bank and HDFC.

Subject to regulatory approval, the merger is expected to complete by Q2 or Q3 of the financial year 2024.