IDFC Bank to expand mass retail share in 2-3 years, steer clear of infra: Chief

IDFC | The share price has risen 30 percent in the last three trading sessions. On August 12, the stock closed at Rs 26.35 against a close of Rs 20.3 on August 7, 2020.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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IDFC Bank, which set up its banking operations in 2015, is aggressively betting on the "Bharat" banking segment for the next 2-3 years.

Listing out the bank's medium-term goals, Rajiv Lall, MD and CEO of IDFC Bank said they plan "to systematically build a mass retail bank in the next 24-36 months".

For this, the bank is open to acquiring "anything under the sun" including a bank or microfinance company to boost its retail share, which has grown to 25 percent at Rs 17,000 crore from almost nothing.

In July last year, the bank bought Tamil Nadu-based Grama Vidiyal microfinance firm and has now named it IDFC Bharat which is operating as the bank's wholly-owned subsidiary.

Lall says this does not rule out corporate growth but the bank will be cautious in keeping away from the currently troubled infrastructure sector. Its wholesale or the corporate book has come down to 54 percent from 72 percent a year ago.

The bank's bad loans reduced by more than half as it sold 14 large corporate loans worth about Rs 4000 crore for Rs 2,000 crore to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), said Chief Financial Officer Sunil Kakar.

"We would focus on emerging corporates, mid-sized companies, mid-sized and retail portfolios...We would also focus on fee-based income growth like transaction banking, forex, advisory and others," Lall said addressing a post results press conference.

The bank will look to increase its customer base to 10 million customers over the next three years from the current 1.4 million.

Even as the bank plans to expand its physical presence, it will not be in the form of full-fledged bank branches but small branch outlets and points of presence.

Branches will expand from 74 to 200 in three years while the corporate banking outlets will grow from 350 to 2000. The 8000 points of presence in the form of merchant points, micro ATMs and Aadhaar pay outlets will increase to 1 lakh in three years.

"Fewer customers are using branches and we want to use the digital channels such as Aadhaar enabled machines...We are extending our reach both through digital and non-branch physical points," Lall said, adding that for this they want to hire as few people as possible.

Hence, the bank expects its employee base to increase by about 2,000-3,000 to up to 10,000 this year.