HDFC Bank to go Rural

By Vipin Agnihotri

HDFC is chartering an aggressive expansion plan to leave footprints in all districts in the most populous state of the country, Uttar Pradesh in a phased manner. The bank is all set to come up with hub and spoke model to reach out to its prospective rural clients. Neena Singh, executive vice president of the bank pointed this out in an exclusive chat to The India Street.

“At the first stage it will have a full fledged branch (the hub) equipped to deal with the needs of the rural economy. At the next stage (the spokes) are designed to reach out to its clients in the villages across the country,” she said.

“We had an agri meet today to apprise our agri-relationship managers on the ways to milk the catchment areas in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” pointed out Neena Singh. A detailed plan aimed at strong rural presence was being chalked out. In this financial year, the bank would be expanding presence in 19 districts in the state, she added.

At the next stage of its rural operation, Singh said, the bank was planning point of sale machines, capable of cash deposits and withdrawals and it was also allowing its clients a limited number of free transactions through ATMs of associated co-operative banks and public sector banks.

"Another step is our decision to take the more demanding route of connecting with clients directly, rather than taking the easier direct sales agent route. Agri extension education camps will be held in districts to increase farmer’s awareness of our products and also of farm equipment, yield efficiency, farm machinery and other inputs of importance for farmers," she said.

It is worth mentioning in this regard that specific rural products have been planned like tractor loans, kisan gold cards and warehouse receipts. HDFC bank’s rural clients would also be given nearly all the urban-centric banking products including savings account, fixed deposits, automobile loans, foreign exchange facilities and loans against gold.

And the rural rich population will get wealth management solutions, mutual fund products and stocks and commodities trading facility by the bank. The bank’s employees will also be trained to offer investment advice to its rural clients.