YES Bank to expand retail banking

Competition in retail banking is likely to intensify with YES Bank’s plan to enter the home, personal & education loan and credit cards businesses soon.

The bank has embarked on a five-year growth trajectory with plans for a business of Rs 1,50,000 crore by 2015, of which 20-25 per cent will come from retail banking, according to Somak Ghosh, group president for corporate finance and development banking, Yes Bank. He was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar here today.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2010, the bank’s advances were at Rs 12,193 crore and deposits at Rs 26,979 crore.

“We are aiming at a compounded annual growth rate of about 35 per cent and we are hopeful of achieving the target in the next five years,” he added.

At present, close to 90 per cent of the bank's business came from wholesale banking, said Ghosh. The bank would focus on professionals like doctors, lawyers and accountants, among others, to bring out customised home loan products, typically for loans above Rs 25 lakh, he added.

“In the next five years, we will focus on retail loans like personal & home loans and credit cards in a big way. We will look at professionals like doctors, lawyers, accountants and travel agents for home loans. For loans to individuals, we will stick to those having corporate accounts with our bank,” he said.

The bank plans to have about 750 branches and 3,000 off-site ATMs over the next five years in order to scale up its retail business. SME loans would account for about 22 per cent of the total business over the next five years, said Ghosh.