Yes Bank rejigs management team

Private sector lender Yes Bank has chalked out an aggressive plan to offer a host of retail products over the next few months, which could include home, auto and education loans, to grab a larger share of the retail market.

The lender would offer secured consumer loans and loans to micro, small and medium companies in the next few months, Yes Bank managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor said. At a later stage, the bank plans to offer home, auto and education loans too, he added.

"So far, we did not enter the retail segment owing to its recent high risk nature. However, with the economy picking up and interest rate scenario conducive for growth, we believe this is the right time to start offering retail products," Kapoor told PTI.

At present, Yes Bank is primarily operating in mid-corporate and large corporate segments and has only a negligible share of retail in its Rs 21,000 crore (Rs 210 billion) loanbook and as on date, its total balance sheet stands at Rs 33,000 crore (Rs 330 billion).

The bank has targeted to take the total advances to Rs 1 lakh crore and deposits to Rs 1.25 lakh crore by March 2015, by focusing more on the mass segment, Kapoor said, adding it is also preparing to launch credit cards over the next one year.

Kapoor said the bank also has ambitious plans to take the share of current savings account deposits to above 35 per cent over the next few years from 10 per cent at present. The bank, which has entered the second phase of its expansion -- Version 2.0 -- has also restructured its top management team to support its growth expansion plans, Kapoor said.

As part of this, it has elevated four top officials, including Sanjay Agarwal as business banking president, Rajnish Datta as retail banking president, Nikhil Sahni as branch banking president and Subramanian Ayyar as president of corporate development. "We call this the second phase of expansion as the 'take- off phase'.

The bank has already built a strong base for its future business growth and would like to explore opportunities in the untapped segments now," Kapoor said.

As part of the expansion plans, Yes Bank aims to double its branch strength to 250 by June 2011 and 750 branches by March 2015 from around 150, Kapoor said. Besides, it also targets to set up an extensive ATM network - 1,200 ATMs by March 2012 and 3,000 ATMs by March 2015, Kapoor said.