Kotak Bank to add up to 200 branches in FY25

Kotak Mahindra Bank will increase its pace of opening new branches and add about 175 to 200 branches in the financial year 2024-25, a senior official at the bank said, months after the central bank barred the private lender from sourcing new customers digitally.

In April, the Reserve Bank of India stopped Kotak from adding new customers via its online and mobile banking channels, and from issuing new credit cards, due to information technology-related deficiencies.

“We have been adding roughly 150 odd branches for several years now. This year too, the momentum is going to continue,” Virat Diwanji, group president and head – consumer bank, told Reuters in an email interview.

Before the RBI’s order, Kotak was heavily reliant on digital channels to source new clients. About 95% of its new personal loans by volume were disbursed digitally in the October-December quarter, while it issued 99% of new credit cards through digital channels. A similar breakup for the January-March quarter is not yet available.