R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, NOV 3
DBS Bank India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DBS Bank in Singapore on Thursday announced that it poised to grow three times of its gold loan portfolio from Rs.4500 cr to Rs. 13,500 crore in five years.
In an interaction with senior journalists, Bharat Mani, Executive Director & Head, Retail Customer Segment, said the bank has 525 branches across the nation after the amalgamation of the erstwhile Lakshmi Vilas Bank during November 2020. Out of these, over 450 branches are in five southern states – Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana. Of these Tamil Nadu alone has over 300 branches.
After the amalgamation, the bank took several steps, including reorganization of its branches etc. The software integration with the amalgamated LVB will take place fully during January 2023, he added.
The integration of LVB with DBS Bank India has focused on four pillars – product and process, systems and technology, and people and brand.
He said, “Following its amalgamation with the LVB, the DBS Bank India’s digital offerings further expanded the reach and popularity of the gold loan portfolio. DBS Gold Loans enable customers to unlock the value of their gold ornaments and come with an instant disbursal in 30 minutes, an attractive rate per gram, low-interest rates, and a 50% waiver in processing fees.”
The Bank also offers industry-leading Fixed Deposit accumulated interest rates at 7.27% annualized yield for a 5-year period.
“DBS Bank India is well-entrenched in the Indian market, and the advantages of the expanded network across business segments, including products such as gold loans, have started to flow through. We have seen a heightened demand for gold loans among the agrarian community and 70% of the demand is driven from southern India. We aim to grow the gold loan book by 3 fold to Rs 13,500 Crore in the next five years. Looking ahead, we will continue to build innovative solutions that cater to a wider customer franchise and empower customers to “Live more, Bank Less,” Bharat Mani added.
It offers a range of services for large, medium, and small enterprises and retail customers in India. DBS Bank India has also reported an increase in its retail customer base with a strong Current & Savings Account (CASA) balance.
The bank is working on its product portfolio, geographical focus, pricing, and customer segmentation. Over the next five years, DBS Bank India aims to scale up its retail and lending business, targeting 40% of its overall revenues to come from large corporates and 60% to come from its consumer banking and SME business.
DBS Bank India’s FY22 results reflected the progress on the integration as the bank reported robust growth, recording a net profit of Rs 167 Cr in the fiscal. The company’s net revenue grew 11%, and asset quality further improved in FY22, with gross and net NPAs reducing to 9.50% (from 12.93% in FY21) and 1.61% (from 2.83% in FY21), respectively.
