Private sector lender Development Credit Bank is set to enter the wealth management space, offering free services to all its customers.
Unlike other banks, which restrict such services only to high net worth clients, DCB plans to offer wealth management services to all customers, free of charge, DCB’s Executive Vice President and Retail Banking Head, Praveen Kutty said.
However, those customers having a minimum Rs 5 lakh of investable assets can avail a slew of special services such as constant monitoring of their investment portfolios, Kutty said.
“We have set up a dedicated team of over 100 professionals for the new service. This team will continuously monitor and deploy the client’s wealth portfolio in various asset classes depending upon the risk appetite,” Kutty said.
By offering the service to all clients, free of charge, DCB intends to attract new clients to scale up its customer base, besides enhancing its relationship with existing clients, Kutty said.
DCB expects to add around 100,000 customers under its wealth management business over the next 12-18 months and will tap its existing clientele to attain this target, Kutty said.
“Unlike other lenders who offer similar solutions, DCB plans to provide a holistic solution to the wealth management client, that will oversee the surplus, deficit and risk aspects of their portfolio,” Kutty said.
A majority of foreign lenders and a few private sector banks like ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra and Axis have operations in the wealth management space and the entry of smaller banks like DCB is expected to intensify the competition.
Out of its 500,000 plus customer-base, DCB has identified 15,000 people, who have investable surplus on or above Rs 5-lakh, Kutty said.
“We already have enquiries from our existing customer-base to join the new venture. As of now, we have identified nearly 15,000 customers who have assets over Rs 5 lakh. This portion of clients will grow as we move ahead,” Kutty said.
Elaborating on the new service, Kutty said besides investment management, the bank will also take care of the financing needs of the customers, besides offering insurance products under the wealth management service.
