Standard Chartered introduces Marathon Credit Card

Company release, February 3, 2005

New Delhi

Standard Chartered Bank in association with VISA International has introduced the Marathon credit card. This special card is issued to celebrate the spirit of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and to compliment the spirit of fitness.

Murali M Natrajan, Head - Consumer Bank, Standard Chartered Bank India said, “The response that we have received for the Marathon was phenomenal and overwhelming which is indicative of an increased awareness and keenness about fitness. We at Standard Chartered recognised this trend and have come up with a customer oriented offer that takes the spirit of not just Marathon further but also seeks to ride the wave of fitness consciousness that’s the beginning to start. In continuation with our product innovations and many firsts, we are delighted to introduce a credit card that truly celebrates the spirit of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. ” Standard Chartered Bank is the market leader in sport based affinity card programmes. Its earlier success includes that of the Cricket Card, the Soccer Card and Olympic Games Card. The Marathon Card is a logical extension of the Standard Chartered Bank product suite. It has partnered with Reebok in its endeavour to promote fitness among the customers. The exclusive offers for the customer include:

Free Reebok Running Shoes: A pair of Reebok 3D Runner Shoes worth Rs. 2290/- are offered free with every card

Balance Transfer at 0.99%: An attractive balance transfer at a very low interest rate of 0.99% per month, for the first 6 months.

Supplementary Card free for life: All Marathon cardmembers could gift their near and dear ones supplementary Marathon Credit Cards. These cards are offered free for life.

Win Reebok treadmills: On spending just Rs 900/- on the Marathon Credit Card every month, customers get a chance to win Reebok treadmills worth Rs.2, 45,000/- each, for a period of 8 months.

Standard Chartered VISA Marathon Credit Cards will be available at a one-time enrollment fee of Rs 1599/- only. The cards will be issued in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Mysore, New Delhi, Pune, Trivandrum, Vadodara and Vizag.

Santanu Mukherjee, Country Manager – South Asia, VISA International said, "The Standard Chartered Marathon card is symbolic of the commitment made by thousands of marathoners in the recently concluded Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. We are delighted to partner with Standard Chartered Bank in launching this commemorative product that symbolises the spirit of freedom and the heart of sport."

Subhinder Singh Prem, Managing Director, Reebok India Limited said “We are pleased to continue our very successful partnership with Standard Chartered through the Marathon Card. Our earlier association on the Olympic Games Card has been very successful and has been received very well by customers. We expect to repeat the same through the Marathon Card”

The Standard Chartered Marathon is called the greatest race in the world. It covers four cities including Nairobi, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mumbai. Thousands of people apart from the professional athletes participate in the marathon to raise money for their specific charitable purposes.

Standard Chartered

With over 1.4 million cards, Standard Chartered is a leading issuer of VISA and MasterCard credit cards in India. It has several firsts to its credit that include issuance of the first Global Credit card in India, the first Photocard, the first Picture Card and was the first Credit card issuer to be awarded the ISO 9002 certification. Standard Chartered credit cards are accepted across 1,10,000 establishments in India and Nepal and more than 19 million outlets worldwide. A card member also has the option of accessing cash from any of the 600,000 ATMs bearing the VISAPLUS Logo or the MasterCardCirrus logo.

Visa International

Visa is the world's leading payment brand generating more than US$2.9 trillion in annual card sales volume. Visa has unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries. The Visa organization plays a pivotal role in developing innovative payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 competing member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa is a leader in Internet based payments and is pioneering the creation of u-commerce, or universal commerce, the ability to conduct commerce anywhere, anytime and any way. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

Visa in Asia Pacific

In Asia Pacific, Visa has a greater market share than all other payment card brands combined with 62 percent of all card purchases at the point of sale being made using Visa cards. There are currently 229 million Visa-branded cards in the region. During the 12 months ended 30 September 2004, US$455 billion was spent at point of sale or withdrawn from ATMs in Asia Pacific using Visa cards. Visa Asia Pacific's Internet address is www.visa-asia.com.

For more details contact:

Neel Chatterjee

Regional Head, Corporate Affairs

Standard Chartered Bank

Phone: 22 263 4574

e-mail: neel.chatterjee@in.standardchartered.com

Luna / Prerana

Hanmer & Partners,

Phone: 29214793/94

e-mails: luna@hanmerpr.com/ prerana@hanmerpr.com