The Hindu Business Line : Barclays goes to non-metro centres; launches three retail branches

SPREADING WINGS: (from left) Mr Samir Bhatia, Managing Director-India & India Ocean, Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking, Mr Ahmed Khizer Khan, Chief Executive, Emerging Markets, Barclays Global Retail, and Mr Antony Jenkins, CEO, Barclays Cards, at a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday to announce its retail banking foray in India. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai May 17 British bank Barclays launched its retail operations in India, opening three branches, two of them in non-metro centres in the South — Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and Nelamangala near Bangalore. The third branch is in Mumbai.

The bank had applied for branch licences across the country but was given these three for the time being, said a bank official.

Expanding Operations

The bank on Thursday announced a range of retail services including credit cards, personal loans, business loans and investment services products.

Mr Samir Bhatia, Managing Director-India, Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking, said: "With branches in places like Nelamangala and Kanchipuram, we will be catering to local customers. We will also be offering no-frill accounts."

The bank has already invested $300 million and a further $70 million would be pumped in to expand the retail operations, he said.

Barclays has also applied for more licences from the RBI. "We would like to have as many branches as we get. But we intend to use alternative channels like the Internet, telecom and feet-on-the-street (direct sales agents)," he added

Barclays had launched its commercial banking operations in November 2006. The bank has presence in India since the late 1970s, through Barclays Capital, an investment bank.

Mr Ahmed Khizer Khan, Chief Executive, Emerging Markets, Barclays, said, "To ensure that we are a global player, we would want more than 50 per cent of our profits to come from outside the UK." He added that the bank would like to achieve this by 2009-2010. "Retail credit is growing at 30 per cent in India and the market is ready for innovative products," Mr Bhatia said. He said that Barclays had 276 employees, which would be in due course increased to 700.

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