HDFC Bank is targeting to double its semi-urban and rural (SURU) business in the next three to four years, a senior official said on Thursday.
The country’s largest private sector lender, however, did not share the present size of the SURU business on both assets and deposits front.
The bank said already 52 per cent of its overall 7,821 branches are in SURU locations, and it will be adding another 675 branches over the next 12-14 months to take the SURU branches close to 5,000.
Its country head for retail branch banking Arvind Vohra told reporters that SURU locations support over 70 per cent of the population, and the bank feels that it presents a big business opportunity.
Vohra said the bank will be increasing its business in the SURU locations by expanding reach and also introducing stronger product propositions in the market, which are tailor-made keeping in mind the needs of the local population.
The bank is also examining the possibility of adopting different loan underwriting standards for the SURU locations without compromising on its core principles of maintaining asset quality, Vohra said.
He said in FY23, the deposit base for the overall banking industry in the SURU locations grew by 8 per cent, while HDFC Bank was able to increase it by 25 per cent.
The bank has launched a dedicated premium banking offering targeted at the SURU locations, hoping to tap into the opportunities offered by the relatively affluent sections in such areas.
Vohra said conventionally, one thinks of farmers while discussing rural areas, but there are other pockets as well in such areas, which present good business opportunities.
He specifically mentioned constituents like teachers, salaried employees, merchants and other micro-enterprises as segments of the bank’s interest.
Customers in the SURU areas are already a part of the bank’s different preferred banking programmes, he said, adding that the difference in the latest programme christened as ‘Vishesh’.
He, however, refused to share the number of such customers who are already part of other preferred banking programmes, or give a detail of the overall universe of the subscribers within its fold who qualify for ‘Vishesh’.
The bank is targeting to get 1 lakh customers on the new initiative over the next 12 months, he said. The initiative will also help the bank in meeting its priority sector lending (PSL) requirements, Vohra, added.
The bank has bundled the new initiative with some features like a dedicated personal banker, 50 per cent off on gold loan processing fees, daily hospital cash benefits, annual preventive health check-ups of up to Rs 3,000, unlimited health consultation and agritech services like soil testing and agri advisory, as per an official statement.
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