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Mr. K.V.S.
Manian
President—Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
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“Young overseas Indians will find our brand attractive”
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Interview with Mr. K.V.S. Manian, President—Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
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Mr. K.V.S. Manian, President—Consumer Banking Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
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Which is your main target group within the very wide Indian Diaspora, and why?
Overall the NRI segment looks very attractive. The NRIs who are essentially abroad for work and intend on returning, or have their dependent families here, are more amenable to using our services for banking, remittance, real estate related services as well as investment options. For people who are beyond the first generation, while there is opportunity for allocating some part of their wealth to Indian markets, we find them using our services more restrictively. In our experience the North American, Middle East & South East Asian markets have been more fruitful for us than the European markets and the rest of the world.
Please tell us about how NRIs can benefit from your banking schemes?
Our services are quite comprehensive for NRIs. Apart from regular banking services, we have a full suite of products including, Remittances, Cards, Home loans and Investment Services. Our State-of-the-art Internet Banking, and Phone Banking proposition with a dedicated and centralized 24x7 NR Centre makes banking a pleasurable experience for our NR customers.
At a time when NRI remittances have touched record levels, what message do you have for keeping up NRI confidence in Indian banks such as Kotak?
We believe in India’s long term story and would also like our NR customers to believe in the same. We would also like to emphasize that the Indian capital markets are generally safe in terms of the regulatory controls and processes. The Indian Banking sector too is healthy and well regulated. These should be good reasons for the NR customers to continue reposing their confidence in the Indian banking sector. As for Kotak in particular, Kotak Mahindra Bank has one of the highest capital adequacy ratio in India, and is one of the fastest growing banks in India, with a very well reputed management team.
Your bank is relatively young, but has made it big in a short time. What lies behind this surge to the top?
Kotak Mahindra Bank has performed well and steadily in the last 10 years as a Bank. It has a well-diversified Universal Banking model that adds value to both customers and shareholders. In this short period, the bank has become the 5th largest bank in terms of market capitalization and is part of the Nifty index. With its well diversified product portfolio and customer centric philosophy, it has served its customers’ needs making it a fast rising financial services brand.
What is the long term vision of the bank?
Kotak Mahindra Bank has a vision to be a world class bank, with a focus on being the brand of choice for customers and an employer of choice. We also believe in size, but not just for the sake of it. We look for size along with value for our shareholders.
The average age of your senior management is far lower than the average age of most corporate and banks. There is a definitive leaning towards youth. Do you have anything to offer young overseas Indians that can attract them easily towards banking with you?
We have a concept of “Professional Entrepreneur” in our organization. We believe that our employees work with an entrepreneurial spirit of ownership. It is important to create an environment that creates this spirit. Hence, age is not a criterion for deciding our key role holders. Their ability to create entrepreneurial opportunities and outcomes is the key determinant. We take calculated risks with people while planning their careers. In general our brand has a youthful feel about it. If you had seen our “Its grt 2b 25” campaign on completion of our 25 years as a group (2 years back), you will realize that. The young overseas Indians will find our brand attractive, and our Internet proposition, along with our social media initiatives quite engaging.
Do you plan to expand your presence across NRI events in 2013? If so, what kind of a role do you see Media playing?
We are always looking for opportunities to be present in events which help our brand, and help us reach out to our target segments, and we will continue doing that in 2013. Media is an important ally for us in this initiative and as long as we can create interesting opportunities to bring out interesting stories for their own target segments, I believe it will be a win – win for both media and for us..
- For more information on Kotak Mahindra Bank–NRI Banking, visit
www.nri.kotak.com.
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January 2013
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