HDFC Bank is looking at opening 200 branches across Kerala in the next two years as part of its efforts to support inclusive growth.
Dhiraj Relli, Branch Banking Head, who was here to open the 150th branch in Kochi on Thursday, said that 70 per cent of the bank’s branches in the State are in rural and semi urban areas to ensure greater participation of people in the banking system.
“Our objective is to empower more people in Kerala, by offering them our full range of banking services, including digital initiatives thus making a difference in their lives,” he told reporters after the official inauguration of the branch in suburban Kakkanad.
Asked why the bank is focusing on rural centres, he said the board has approved a policy to take 10 million households into the formal banking fold and for this reason, the bank is reaching out to rural and semi urban areas across the country.
HDFC Bank, he said, has rapidly expanded its branch network in Kerala in the past five years, as its operations in the State had started in July 1997. With a CD ratio of 112 per cent, the bank has garnered a total business of ₹16,000 crore from the State as on December 31, 2014.
According to S S Jayasankar, Zonal Head, the bank is expanding into deeper geographies with more than 75+ transactions now available on mobile under its ‘Go Digital’ campaign initiatives.