Growing gold/MSME loan business, launching proprietary credit cards, and increasing bancassurance tie-ups are some of the focus areas of DBS Bank India Ltd, said a senior official.

He also said the integration of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank is almost over. The technology integration will be completed soon and the whole bank will work on a single solution.

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“We plan to grow our gold loan business to Rs 15,000 crore in five years’ time. Currently, it is about Rs 4,500 crore. Further, we will also focus on the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME),” Bharath Mani, Executive Director, and Head National Distribution India told the reporters on Thursday.

According to him, the DBS Bank India aims to scale up its retail and lending business targeting 40 per cent of its overall revenues to come from large corporates and 60 per cent form its consumer and SME banking.

Mani said the bank with a foreign bank pedigree and with a wide network is all geared up to serve the wider business section.

“We can now offer the full spectrum of services to the MSME sector. Further, we can also offer the DBS Bank India’s products to high-networth individuals in this part of the country,” Mani added.

In 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mooted the amalgamation of LVB whose net worth was eroded with DBS Bank India.

At that point, LVB had 563 branches and about 970 automatic teller machines (ATM) while DBS Bank India had about 35 branches and was mainly into corporate banking.

After the amalgamation, the DBS Bank India rationalised the branch network and currently, it has about 525 branches across 19 Indian states.

“Less than 200 LVB employees opted to exit the bank post amalgamation,” Mani added.

According to him, the salaries of LVB employees were harmonized with that of DBS Bank India staff. The employees of LVB were also given intensive training on technology and other aspects.

The DBS Bank India will retain LVB’s logo (image of Hindu Goddess Lakshmi) on the branch name boards in some parts of Southern India for some more time, Mani said.

Post amalgamation, there was not much of customer churn but there was the flight of some high-cost deposits as the bank offered its regular interest rate, he said.

According to him, the bank plans to launch its own proprietary credit card next year. Currently, it has a credit card co-branded with Bajaj Finserv.

Mani said the bank has bancassurance tie-ups with three life insurers and plans to expand the tie-ups in the non-life space.