Bandhan Bank to enter South India

The bank plans to open 14 branches in Southern India, which has been an unchartered territory for Bandhan’s microfinance business. 

 

Bandhan Bank will start with a Rs 11,000-crore book, capital of Rs 3,200 crore, 500-600 branches and 250 ATMS across India.

“South is a mature market and there is great potential for Bandhan Bank to serve this region. To start with we will have 14 branches across the region and will offer financial services to all sections of the society. In due course we will ramp up operations,” said Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bandhan Bank. 

 

“We believe that it is every citizen’s right to have access to financial services. We are well-equipped now as a bank to address this need and to serve everyone with honesty and ethics.” he added.

President Pranab Mukherjee, will launch the bank in Kolkata on August 23,the first bank to be born in eastern India post-Independence.

The Bank has appointed five specialized agencies - Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. as consultant for the banking project; FIS as the information technology (IT) partner; Aon Hewitt to design the human resources and compensation policy for employees; Madison Media for the advertising campaign; and Ogilvy & Mather to handle the brand-building exercise.

International Finance Corporation, Singapore government-backed GIC and the state-run Small Industries Development Bank of India have invested in Bandhan Bank. 

 

“We have a robust capital base and our capital adequacy ratio is much higher than what the banking regulator has stipulated. This and a competent risk management team will help us build the bank,” said Ghosh.

Bandhan has appointed 850 experienced banking professionals at senior and middle level positions to run its operations, in addition to 18,000 employees that the microfinance entity already has on its payroll.