Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) is eyeing 72,000 new credit card holders this year, up by 20-30 percent from last year, said Vice-President/Head Cards Business Department, Mohd Sofian Amirudin.

He said the spending pattern of customers which is expected to continue growing by 30-40 percent this year, coupled with the introduction of several new cards by BSN, would help the government-owned bank achieve its target.

BSN will continue to attract customers from the education industry as well as government servants, given the attractive rate offered for these segments.

"Teachers are a huge market for us. We have introduced the 1Teacher Card with a low profit charge rate of 8.8 percent for them. It is the lowest in the country compared to the 17.5 percent mostly offered by other banks," Mohd Sofian said.

He told reporters this after a mock cheque presentation ceremony to winners of the BSN "Impian Tunai 8 Kembali Lagi" campaign by Deputy Chief Executive, Ahmad Latfan, here today.

To date, BSN's customer base for credit cards stands at 200,000 with a monthly absolute spending value of RM60 million.

For the 1Teacher Card, BSN currently has more than 80,000 members and aims to issue another 30,000 cards this year.