South Africa’s second-largest lender by market
value, FirstRand Bank (FRB), has started retail operations in India
by opening its first branch in Mumbai.
The retail branch opening in India represents the “first
new market outside of Africa for these operations” for the lender,
according to FRB.
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FRB had plans to launch its first retail
branch in India in December 2011, but the opening got delayed due
to issues surrounding the location of the branch.
CEO retail and commercial banking for FRB,
Bobby Madhav, said in a statement to RBI in October
2011:
“FirstRand cannot take possession of the space
for the purpose of shop fitting and the installation of banking
infrastructure necessary to commence trading as planned.”
In September 2011,
Michael Jordaan, CEO of First National Bank (FNB), a subsidiary of
FirstRand, told RBI:
“Similar to our successful foray into Africa,
FNB’s entry into the Indian market will be via a greenfields or
startup strategy, where the bank will set up full retail and
commercial banking capabilities in-country.”
According to Madhav, in time products such as
eWallet and cellphone banking are expected to show great promise in
India where traditional, branch-based growth is still constrained
by regulation, said Madhav.
