Hyderabad: Despite the growing calls of digitisation, Kotak Mahindra plans to increase its branch count to 1,500 by year end to reach untapped locations across India, according to a top official on Thursday.
Speaking to the media here, Kotak Mahindra Bank senior executive vice-president Puneet Kapoor said: “We currently have 1,391 branches. By March 2019-end, we expect it to reach 1,500 branches.”
However, the banking sector has seen a dip in addition of new branches due to growth in digital banking options. So, when asked about the reason behind the company’s decision to add branches, Mr Kapoor said, “Following our merger with ING Vysya, we had to restructure a bit Even now, there are places where we have no presence,” he said.
“As for others, it’s not that new branches are not coming up (in other banks), but the these branches are of smaller size due to the growth in digital banking,” Mr Kapoor added.
Meanwhile, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank on Thursday fell nearly 4 per cent as RBI on Tuesday said the recent stake dilution by the bank’s founder Uday Kotak does not meet its regulatory norms.
The stock dropped 3.62 per cent to end at Rs 1,244.90 on BSE.
