StanChart to double relationship managers in priority banking

The country's lagest foreign bank, Standard Chartered Bank, plans to double its team of relationship managers (RM) in the priority banking space over the next 12-18 months, to over 1,300 RMs, in India.

Over the eight key markets where priority banking services are being revamped, Standard Chartered will enhance its RM network by an additional 850.

India is one of the first countries in which Standard Chartered is rolling out the new priority banking proposition, others being China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and United Arab Emirates. The demand for such services in these key emerging markets is growing very rapidly, the bank said.

"We plan to have 1,000 RMs by the end of this year in country," said Shyam Srinivasan, country head of consumer banking, Standard Chartered Bank, India.

Currently, the bank employs 660 managers in its priority banking space in India.

The British major plans to add 1,500 employees to the bank this year in India. At present, it employs 9,000 in the bank and 7,000 at its offshore centre in the country.

Srinivasan said that priority banking services will target at the affluent class segment and can be availed by customers who have at least Rs 20 lakh of deposits or investments in Standard Chartered Bank or Rs 1 crore of mortgage loans.

"This segment has about 30,000 customers and we target to double it in three years or less," he added.

Srinivasan also noted that at present every single relationship manager of the bank caters to about 150-200 clients. The bank is seeing 10-15% growth in its premium customer credit card segment.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Das, general manager of premium banking and consumer banking with Standard Chartered Bank, said the bank plans to focus on priority banking, non-resident and the SME segment for the year.

The bank's Indian operations are its second-largest outside Hong Kong, contributing 19% to group profits. It has 90 branches in the country.