SBI plans to double UK branches

Expansion will see 20 branches by 2018.

State Bank of India’s network expansion attests to the strong appeal of the UK as a retail banking market notwithstanding its maturity and tougher regulation since the 2008 financial crisis. It is India’s largest commercial bank.

“It is one of the major business and financial capitals of the world,” said Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, head of SBI in the UK. “Everything takes place here.”

SBI sees opportunities to provide consumer finance as it tries to break the dominance of Britain’s top five high-street banks.

It is one of the few banks in the UK to offer doorstep banking services where its managers from various branches travel to customers’ homes to collect deposits and deliver paperwork.

SBIalso offers services such as remittances to customers who live in the UK but who keep close links to India.

SBI is eyeing opportunities to offer wealth management services to the newly affluent but not super-rich, arguing that a vacuum exists for those who have the means to invest sums in tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds but who are not millionaires.