Right from the paintings hung on the walls to the right kind of flooring and lighting, State Bank of India is looking closely at all these details as part of its effort to re-brand its ‘Kohinoor’ branches for the well-heeled.

To tap into the business opportunity presented by the rising numbers of the affluent, India’s largest bank wants to standardise the Kohinoor branches and project them as a strong and niche brand, said a senior official.

The re-branding exercise comes at a time when the bank is planning to ramp up its network of Kohinoor branches from 11 now to 45 over the next year. It includes design of logo/ brand signature and conceptualising and directing elite customer engagement events (sports/cultural/others) and hospitality experiences.

Further, the bank will conduct internal brand engagement programmes to help employees understand the brand promise and deliver it confidently.

When it comes to design specifications, the bank is re-examining the layout of the branches in terms of allocation of space for lounges and also for officials, their location in the branch, placing of work-stations, furniture and accessories, lighting arrangements and wall paint colours.

Depending on the location, the minimum balance a high net worth individual (HNI) customer has to maintain at a Kohinoor branch ranges from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore. These branches also extend big-ticket retail and business loans to customers.

While there is no standardised definition of HNIs, ICICI Direct (the online platform of ICICI Securities that provides capital market access to retail investors) said the benchmark for emerging HNIs is one with an investible surplus of ₹25 lakh to ₹2 crore.

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