 "HSBC India gets RBI approval to open 20 new branches in 20 cities")
HSBC India, the Indian arm of London-headquartered HSBC, said on Friday it had received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open 20 branches across 20 cities.
This comes nearly nine years after the bank decided to close 24 branches in 14 cities as part of its strategy to consolidate its network and shift more retail and wealth management business to the online channel.
With the addition of 20 branches, HSBC India’s branches in the country will reach 46.
In 2016 HSBC had 50 branches in the country before it decided to shut down 26. Opening branches is a clear shift in strategy for the bank.
The cities in which HSBC India will open branches are Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Faridabad, Indore, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mysuru, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Patna, Rajkot, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, and Vishakhapatnam.
According to the bank, the new branches are in cities identified for their growing wealth pools, serving as additional touch points for affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients with domestic and international wealth and banking needs.
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“India is an important market for HSBC and wealth in India is a focus,” said Sandeep Batra, head, international wealth and premier banking, HSBC India, adding that the bank was aiming to be the preferred international bank for India’s affluent and globally mobile Indians.
“These branches will help drive our international wealth and premier banking proposition and build on our momentum with customers in India and our growing non-resident clientele around the world,” Batra said.
In an interview with Business Standard, Hitendra Dave, chief executive officer, in November had said if a bank wanted to compete on scale, size, capability, and product range like a local private bank while retaining its international character, the market had room for only one bank and HSBC India hoped to be that very big international bank.
HSBC India is focused on India’s wealth market, with the number of ultra-high net worth individuals alone set to grow by 50 per cent by 2028.
“In India, people want high-quality, personalised banking services, and the demand for such services has exploded. However, the number of banks providing these services has decreased. Opportunities are growing, and competition is shrinking. We are focusing heavily on wealth management, leveraging our global presence, and offering product propositions that allow people to engage with the world from India,” Dave had said.