A "negative list" of 650,000 defaulters has been identified and registered by the India Co-operation Committee comprising MasterCard credit card issuers in the country.

"The negative list, which is an initiative of ICC, has registered 650,000 defaulters and this number is expected to touch 10 lakh (1 million) with more banks joining ICC," MasterCard International South Asia vice president and general manager Nitin Gupta said at the launch of India's first sidecard with HDFC Bank in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The launch of Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd would also benefit the industry, he said.

The MasterCard credit and debit card base in end-2003 stood at 5.48 million and 7.75 million, respectively. They have recorded a growth of 22 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively in the first three months of 2004, he said.

The total spends on credit cards in India was Rs 4,950 crore (Rs 49.50 billion) while it stood at Rs 12,600 crore (Rs 126 billion) on debit cards, Gupta said.

Neeraj Swaroop, country head, retail banking, HDFC Bank, said: "We will also start accessing data on CIBIL as a member bank."

Referring to the sidecards, he said two variants 'Women' and 'Youth' would come in the form of an add-on with a fee of Rs 99 per card.

The launch of Silver and Gold credit cards with MasterCard would also offer better opportunities to the customers.

The current credit card base was over 600,000 and growing at 50,000 per month, he added.