ICICI Bank on Monday said it will expand its retail network by adding 450 new branches this financial year.
Of these, the bank has made 320 branches operational for customers and in the process, it has crossed the milestone of having 5,000 branches, ICICI Bank Bank said in a statement.
Another set of 130 branches will also be customer-ready by the end of the current financial year, it said.
With this, the bank has a wide network of over 5,190 branches, extension counters and automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country and nearly half of the branches are in rural and semi-urban areas to facilitate financial inclusion in the country, it said.
"We believe that a wide branch network continues to be important for retail banking. It helps deepen the relationship with the customer by serving them a wide range of products and offerings," ICICI Bank Executive Director Anup Bagchi said.
More importantly, the branches offer consultation and guidance to customers for all kinds of banking requirements including mortgages, business banking, other loans and investments, he said.
In the past few years, the bank has seen that the nature of business at branches has evolved and customers are now more keen to seek advice and guidance from branches for complex transactions, loans and investments. For simple transactions, they prefer doing it over digital channels like internet and mobile banking, it said.