Mumbai: ‘Axis Bank has decided to open 750 urban branches over the next two fiscals,’ stated official reports.
"The RBI said you could front-load your 25 per cent branches in unbanked areas and carry forward the benefit over the next three years. We have already done so. This year we would have done about 300 unbanked branches," said Rajiv Anand , President of Axis Bank Retail Banking. This infact offers an opportunity for Axis Bank to open its branches in its tier-I, II and III centres.
As part of its financial inclusion drive, RBI also allowed banks to front-load their 25 per cent mandatory new branches in unbanked areas and carry forward to open the remaining 75 per cent new branches in urban areas over the next three years. ‘Axis has around 2,300 branches, 52 per cent of them in the semi-urban, rural and unbanked areas,’ added Anand. Asked about the financial implications of more rural branches, Anand said that this will not hurt key ratios as the branches are small and operate at lower costs.
"The rural opportunity is big, absolutely. This can be a progressive key to our business as we go forward. We are not interested in deposits, but want to participate in the larger financial needs. This will include loans, insurance and start them off on some basics on investments.It will also create a new set of customers who might have very similar banking or financial needs," concluded Anand.
