The Hindu Business Line : American Express to focus on Bangalore

Bangalore March 31 American Express wants to extend its wealth management services to high networth individuals beyond Mumbai and Delhi to Bangalore, said Mr Vishal Kapoor, Senior Director and Head, Financial Advisory Services (FAS), American Express India.

The bank launched FAS in India last year, and piloted it in Bangalore around end-2006.

"According to our estimate, Bangalore is the third largest market in the country. The city is a high-potential market, and would be our focus in the next few months," he said.

There are over 83,000 individuals in India with over $1 million, and about 7.11 lakh people with over $100,000. "These people are our target customers. According to industry estimates, about 10-15 per cent of these are in Bangalore," said Mr Kapoor.

The size of the wealth industry is growing rapidly in India, and Bangalore is among the fastest growing cities. "We have exciting and aggressive plans for Bangalore. We are looking at four times growth this year," he said.

Clarifying that the bank would not be offering its own products, Mr Kapoor said, "What we offer to customers is an asset-allocated portfolio; we use our expertise to select the best portfolio based on the customer's needs." Besides enhancing returns, the aim would also be to manage risks better.

American Express has also piloted FAS in Kolkata and Chennai. "These are attractive markets too, and would figure in our future plans," Mr Kapoor said.