Expecting credit card spends to rise in festive season: Shyamal Saxena

Retail banking head, Standard Chartered Bank in India and South Asia, says credit quality of retail loans has remained stable

Shyamal Saxena heads the retail banking business at Standard Chartered Bank in India and South Asia. In an interview with Somasroy Chakraborty, he shares the current trends in the Indian retail banking space. Edited excerpts:

How is the retail credit demand in the current festive season?

We have seen a growth in demand for mortgages in recent past due to the upcoming festive season. We expect a similar uptick in credit card spends and personal loan offtake in October and November.

How has the credit quality of retail loans been?

Credit quality has remained stable thus far across all asset products. We have seen no deterioration as expansion has taken place primarily in bureau tested populations.

What are Standard Chartered's growth plans in the retail banking space in India?

With reduction expected in interest rates, we have a positive outlook in most asset products. In addition, we plan to leverage the strength of our partnerships and alliances to reach out to our target segments.

How do you plan to attract low-cost deposits?

We have branches in prime locations across most major cities. We have been in most of these markets for many years. Customers choose us as their main bank for the value proposition we provide and for the quality of service we offer. Our customer offering across online and mobile channels is the best in class. Additionally, we reach out to corporates to offer their employees a full banking proposition should they sign up with us for their banking needs.

Standard Chartered will be the first foreign bank in the country to have 100 branches. How do you plan to leverage your branch network to meet priority sector needs? What is your strategy to manage the credit risks associated with rural lending?

We are already actively booking PSL (priority sector lending) qualifying loans both on secured and unsecured lending streams and will continue to build on it.

What are the new products and services that the bank plans to offer to strengthen its position further in the retail banking space?

In the recent past, we have launched some very successful partnerships like Lifestyle co-brand credit card. We have another successful co-brand credit card that we offer along with Bajaj. There are other similar offerings in the pipeline that will cater to specific needs in the market. Each one of them is best in class and we will continue to strengthen our customer offerings.