StanChart to double down on SME, affluent, wealth banking segments

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Retail banking is “core” to UK-based Standard Chartered Bank’s strategy in India as it is looking to double down on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), affluent, and wealth banking segments, according to the bank’s senior management.

This comes after the bank, last week, sold its personal loan portfolio of over Rs 4,100 crore to Kotak Mahindra Bank.

“Retail banking is very much part and parcel and core to our strategy in India,” said Aditya Mandloi, managing director (MD), head of wealth and retail banking, India and South Asia.

“…that was just a divestment of a small portfolio that we had. We have robust plans (in India). And, our focus is to double down on affluent, SME, and wealth management,” he said referring to the transaction it undertook with Kotak Mahindra Bank. 

On Wednesday, the UK-based bank launched its first international banking centre in Mumbai for global Indians to cater to the affluent and high-net-worth individuals. It plans to manage their wealth and banking needs across the globe.

According to the bank, global Indians are affluent resident and non-resident Indians, who have an increasingly “global” outlook now for their personal, business and wealth requirements. 

The bank is aiming to provide a multi-market gateway for these clients, leveraging its international wealth centres in Singapore, UAE, Hong Kong, Jersey (UK), and India.

After Mumbai, the bank is planning to open such centres in some other key markets in India to address the requirements of global Indians.

“We have a very expansive suite of offerings and solutions, which will best cater to affluent, SMEs and for wealth management,” Mandloi said.

Mandloi, however, ruled out the fact that it will not have a mass market segment in retail banking.

He said the bank will disproportionately focus on emerging affluent, affluent, SME, and provide very comprehensive wealth management solutions to this target segment.

“…because we have a very robust employee banking proposition, we do have individual banking solutions in play. So, we will naturally have an element of mass market, which eventually turns into emerging affluent. That's how the story plays out,” he said.

He added that credit cards will remain core for its solutions as an individual payment tool.

Commenting on its branch network, Mandloi highlighted that it has 100 branches in 42 cities, covering 19 states. And, its branch network is core to the distribution strategy.