ICICI Bank is now a $10-billion biz

16 August 2006

Non-resident Indians and India Inc have given ICICI Bank a big reason to cheer. The bank now boasts of $10 billion international balance sheet. That's close to 20 per cent the size of its domestic balance sheet. The reason? A growth in corporate overseas business and NRI remittances.

"We've seen a 25 per cent growth in remittances volumes inspite of fluctuations in interest rates, so it not only involves flows also what's coming in consumption type expenditure," said Bhargav Das Gupta, Head - International Business, ICICI Bank.

This growth rate is what's giving large banks a run for their money. The remittances market is estimated to be approximately $25 billion in size and ICICI Bank now accounts for 20 per cent of that, SBI accounts for 23 per cent.

But ICICI Bank launched its remittances platform barely four years back, compared to SBI's more than 50-year-old platform. And the bank is now on an international expansion drive.

"We've applied for three to five representative offices in Asia and Africa. We are waiting for approvals from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Kenya," added Das Gupta.

That's not all; the bank wants its international business growth to mirror its Indian growth plan. And so it will capitalize on the NRI retail segment. Currently, retail accounts for 40 per cent of its international business and corporate business accounts for the rest.