Bandhan Bank wants to reinvent itself

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Editor's note: Bandhan Bank and its CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh want to shed the legacy of microfinance as well as the tag of a lender focused on West Bengal and the north-eastern states. The Kolkata-headquartered bank, seven years after it started operations with the grant of a universal banking licence to its microfinance parent, is still largely associated with microcredit. It is also seen as a bank catering to eastern India, as the bulk of its branches are located in the region. Hence Ghosh’s desire to shake off the past. But how?  First, he plans to open about 550 branches in the next one year—more than two-thirds of which will be outside the eastern region. “This is in line with our diversification agenda; 70% of those branches will be based in the north, west, and south regions,” says Ghosh in an emailed response to our queries. Second, the bank will focus more on SME and retail loans even as it goes big on digital. It has started hiring people for this.  Investors seem to have taken note of steps to reduce the …