The London-headquartered bank has held preliminary talks with a number of stakeholders in recent weeks with a view to reaching decisions as early as this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The discussions are preliminary and may be subject to change, the people added.
The sale of the card unit, which is one route, will test the options for a broader retail withdrawal, the people said, adding that deliberations could face delays or even fail. The talks come as a StanChart executive said the bank is ready to relinquish certain credit card customers in India who are unwilling to deepen their relationship with the institution.
Stanchart said in an email response that its wealth and retail banking strategy for India is focused on multi-product relationships, with a strong overlap of international banking. Credit cards are an integral part of this, it added.
Foreign lenders have steadily scaled back their Indian consumer businesses over the past decade. Citigroup Inc. sold its entire Indian retail franchise – including credit cards, home loans and deposits – to Axis Bank Ltd in 2023. as part of a broader downturn in Asia. Barclays Plc withdrew from retail lending more than a decade ago, while Deutsche Bank AG is now in talks with lenders to sell its retail and asset management businesses in India.
The moves underscore global banks’ struggle to achieve scale in India’s hyper-competitive consumer market. The domestic scene is dominated by HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd. and other major non-state lenders.
Standard Chartered has already reduced some of its retail exposure by selling its personal loan portfolio.
M&A wave
A wave of multi-billion dollar transactions in the Indian banking sector is building on the momentum of foreign players investing in insurance and fintech companies.
All told, about $15 billion worth of deals involving financial services firms have been completed in India this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In October, Emirates NBD said it plans to invest $3 billion in RBL Bank Ltd., marking the largest foreign investment in the Indian banking sector. Earlier that month, Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. a deal to acquire Sammaan Capital Ltd. for approximately $1 billion, while the banking division of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. in May agreed to pay $1.6 billion for 20% of Yes Bank Ltd.
More stories like this are available at bloomberg.com
Published on January 16, 2026
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