Mukesh Ambani Group company Reliance Retail and Citibank are understood to have agreed to float a joint venture for consumer finance.

The two partners are believed to have decided on giving Sandeep Soni, who heads Citibank's new strategic initiatives for alliance and partnerships, the charge of the new venture.

The two partners are expected to announce in the coming days a 50:50 joint venture, for which the basic understanding has been reached. It would start with focus on more than 38 lakh customers of Reliance Retail loyalty programme 'Reliance One'.

The proposed entity is expected to largely deal in loans and credit cards for the country's leading retail chain. Reliance Retail has over 1,000 stores across the nation.

A formal announcement is expected to be made this month, sources said.

When contacted Reliance Retail officials declined to comment.

"Our joint venture with Reliance would come during the course of time," CitiIndia Country Business Manager (Global Consumer Group) P S Jayakumar had earlier said.

He had also said that the company would be introducing a couple of new co-branded cards during the year.

Citibank had recently tied-up with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to launch a co-branded credit card for users of the transport system.