Axis Bank plans expansion

​Hyderabad: Axis Bank plans to add 17 more branches to its existing network of 123 branches in Telangana. “Out of these 17, 10 will be in Hyderabad,” said Rajiv Anand, Executive Director- Retail Banking, Axis Bank here on Wednesday.

The bank is likely to add between 350-400 branches to its existing network of 3,800 branches across the country. The bank has already added 76 branches in Q1FY19.The bank’s mobile banking segment has shown impressive numbers, said Rajiv and added “Overall mobile banking spends at the Bank touched Rs.71,444 crore in Q1FY19 increasing 90% YoY.”

He said that the bank continues to focus significantly on cards, both credit and debit, which remain an important business function, and added, it is a market leader in installing ‘card-acceptance terminals’ with 24,000 new terminals installed in Q1FY19 alone.

While digitisation has taken off in metro and urban areas, it is "by definition" slower in the semi-urban and rural areas, requiring Axis Bank to have branches in those areas, he said. He was asked whether number of ATMs and bank branches would come down with the ongoing digital drive. Even as the bank has shown robust growth across business levers, its mobile banking segment has shown particularly impressive numbers.

In its commitment to the 'Digital India' agenda, Axis Bank said more than 70 per cent of all transactions in the first quarter of this financial year were made through digital mode. "Axis Bank has driven forward the government's digital initiative by focusing on and strengthening our mobile banking and internet banking services," Rajiv Anand said. "The bank has taken multiple initiatives to promote digital banking, both in rural and urban areas which have led to a good rise in the transactions done digitally," he added.