Axis Bank Expanding Its Network
Axis Bank is in the process of expanding its branch network and upgrading its extension counters to branches in the South. The bank has 181 branches in the South zone comprising the four States – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Its President (South Zone), Mr C.P. Rangarajan, told Business Line that there were 17 extension counters in this zone initially. “The process of upgrading 13 of these to branches is over. We will upgrade the remaining ones before the end of this fiscal,” he said and added that the RBI has given the bank licence to add another 55 branches in this zone. “We have firmed up 32 locations and these would become operational by March 2009,” Mr Rangarajan said.
He was here in connection with the relocation of a branch.Keeping pace with its expansion plans, the bank also intends to increase its headcount. ‘South zone comprises 3,700 employees. We will add about a thousand more in a year’s time. We place graduates, hire off campus albeit selectively after a written test,” he said, adding “career progression is matchless and the package on par with the industry.”
The bank is at present focused on growing its customer base. South zone has about 30-lakh customers and is roping in about one-lakh new customers every month. “Our CASA deposit at Rs 8,000 crore is about 52 per cent of our deposit. Our CASA target for this fiscal is Rs 11,000 crore,” he said. Answering a query, he said “we do not make unsolicited calls. Lead generation happens within the branch and we have a dedicated sales team.”
Its retail asset centre, which has since been separated from the branches, takes care of home loan, personal loan and retail advances. With an asset base of over Rs 100 crore, the centre has been growing by Rs 5–6 crore every month. “We are active on auto loan, home loan and personal loans,” he said. On home loans, he said ‘there is a lull now, but the year-on-year growth is 40 to 50 per cent. We have close to 1,200 home loan customers in Coimbatore alone. We have done away with the pre-closure charges, but the customer retention rate is pretty high.”
