t-s-a: Are you targeting a technologically sophisticated clientele?

AP: Not really –we are in 4 businesses – corporate banking, treasury, retail banking, capital market, infrastructure and Government.

For corporate banking we are targeting a very sophisticated investor – we have a tie-up with Chase – to be able to deliver the latest products. We are targeting only the top 170 corporations. They want the best of products, latest technology at the right price – we are targeting them because the risk of default is low. The foreign banks had been charging them premium price for their product. Now we offer the same product at a lower price. We do their advisory, collect money, distribute their cheques, put them on the net and create a close user group –we outsource the payroll if they want us to – we have tied up with Deloitte & Touche who do the payroll while we do the credit to the account and we balance products - if we need to handle a client’s Provident Fund – we will find a Pricewaterhouse to come in with us. We meet all the needs of a customer – one stop. Take for instance Reliance, we do their collection and disbursements, we deal with their dealers, pay out dividends, do their cheques and bill discounting – the point is to make sure that we are not strait-jacketed and we meet all the needs of our customer.

When you move on to retail sector– the effects of technology are again visible– it is giving you a completely new customer, it is reducing your cost and it is helping you tell the customer that he can deal with you in his manner of choice. We are neither in bricks nor in clicks – we are here to give the customer the method of dealing that he wants. If he wants to come to the branch and deal with us – like banking was in the 50s – it is his option – and that’s the only way my dad will deal – if the customer wants to deal with us on the net or on the mobile phone he can do so – but people do like the comfort of a branch. Servicing on alternate channels is excellent – it reduces cost substantially.

t-s-a: Are there any products/services for overseas customers?

AP : We have no overseas presence yet we are the third largest in the number of NRI customers. We launched our NRI Offering 4 months back –it is entirely web-based. Unlike other banks here that want only the deposits of NRIs – we addressed the question what does the NRI really need? The NRI needs peace of mind – he is likely to have an account here, he is likely to buy and sell shares here, he is quite likely to have a house here, he is more than likely to have his parents, sister, brother here. Given this overall environment – what does he need – he needs a saving account, he needs somebody to help him sort out his buying and selling with the RBI, he needs somebody to handle his tax, he needs somebody to keep him updated on what’s happening with stocks and shares, he needs somebody to pay his bills, income-tax, he may want mutual funds. We tied up again with Deloitte & Touche – they offer the customer anything he wants in terms of liaison with RBI as well as do tax returns at a reasonable price. An NRI can open a savings account or a Demat account with us, he can get an international debit card – if he has convertible rupees here – we give him a debit card that is jointly with Visa which he can use anywhere in the world against his rupees balance here. And we pay the highest interest rate – we offer a complete package, add a value for money price and meet all his needs. We follow the same for a retail customer here. We have conveniently located branches, we have ATMs, and telephone banking.