HDFC Bank may pick Arvind Kapil to lead home loans after merger

HDFC Bank did not respond to an email seeking confirmation on Kapil’s new role.

HDFC Bank Ltd has shortlisted veteran Arvind Kapil, its current retail assets head, to spearhead the home loans business post its mega-merger with India’s biggest mortgage financier Housing Development Finance Corp.

Kapil, who has worked at India’s most valuable bank for almost a quarter of a century, recently met executives at the mortgage lender to discuss plans for the loan book post-merger, according to people familiar with the matter. If he gets the role, Kapil will lead a mammoth mortgage business, that currently includes gross individual loans of Rs 5 lakh crore ($61 billion) at HDFC and over Rs 1 lakh crore at HDFC Bank, according to the firms’ latest financial statements.

The decision has yet to be finalized and may still change with the merger slated to be completed as soon as July 1, they said. Kapil did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment. HDFC Bank did not respond to an email seeking confirmation on Kapil’s new role.

At HDFC Bank, Kapil has overseen the rollout of initiatives like getting a personal loan in 10 seconds, even for those without a bank account, as well as offering car loans in 30 minutes.

The merger will create a financial behemoth that can ride the boom in home loans and consumer spending in the world’s most populous nation. An integration committee in the bank is constantly reviewing the business, credit and operations processes so the integration is seamless, Kapil said at the HDFC Bank Day, according to a May 24 video on the bank’s YouTube page.

“Step by step, we’re pretty much ready,” Kapil said at the event. About 70% of HDFC’s mortgage customers did not have accounts with the bank and Kapil said the lender plans to encourage these clients to bank with it.