HDFC Bank is, as evident from the name, promoted by HDFC, India’s leading housing finance company. It is one of the few banks in the private sector which has really given all the nationalised banks a run for their money. It has been voted as the second best bank consistently for the last few years behind SBI, that being purely due to the asset base that SBI enjoys. On all other aspects it comes out on top among all the banks in India.
The most striking feature of HDFC Bank is its aggressiveness. For example, when this year’s budget started taxing dividend of mutual funds, it was the first to come out with the capital withdrawal scheme. HDFC Bank is also known for its deposit mobilisation as they pay good commission for brokers.
HDFC Bank also takes on in its ranks the best professionals in the country. The management of HDFC Bank is also the best in the banking industry and has explored the opportunities of forward and backward integrations. They have diversified into Investment banking, Insurance, Credit Cards, mortgage financing, depository services and more. The merger with Times Bank enabled them to make their presence in the market easier.
HDFC Bank was also among first to take advantages of all the major technological changes in the market. With the emergence of e-commerce, HDFC Bank was the first to offer internet and phone banking to its customers. Now they are also offering personalised banking, i.e. banking at the customer’s premises, for all their customers even small ones, which is a service presently offered by foreign banks only for very high net worth individuals having crores of deposit with the bank (hence the title of having a bank at your house).
All the corporates and individuals who have dealt with HDFC Bank will vouch for the kind of aggresiveness that the bank has to offer in terms of service and delivery.
All in all, HDFC Bank is the number one private bank in the country within a span of four years. It will only be a matter of time before they overtake SBI also and become the number one bank in the country.