SBI plans to introduce innovative products to boost deposit growth: Chairman

In a bid to attract depositors, State Bank of India is contemplating to come out with innovative products including a combo product of recurring deposit and SIP, said the bank's chairman C S Setty.

With the economy progressing, he said, customers are becoming financially more aware and demanding, and have started looking for innovative investment instruments.

Today the customers are looking at the value proposition as financial literacy improves and the concept of asset allocation will gain greater importance, he said.

"Obviously, nobody wants to put everything in a risky asset or a speculative asset...Banking products will always be part of the basket. So, we are trying to bring products which will appeal to them," he told PTI in an interview.

"We are trying to bring innovation in some of the conventional products like recurring deposit, which is actually a conventional SIP...Maybe, we can combine both fixed deposit/recurring deposit and SIP, a combo product that could be digitally accessible," he said.

So, he said, these are the innovations which the bank is thinking of in terms of popularising the deposit products among the Gen Z.

Besides, he said, the bank has undertaken a massive outreach programme for the deposit mobilisation.

"As I said, for us, deposit mobilisation is a franchisee job. We have the largest number of physical outlets across the country. We are leveraging our huge physical reach by initiating outreach programmes where customers are contacted. Today, the effort on part of SBI is to reach out to every customer both existing as well as new customers," he said.

Stressing that deposit is a function of interest rate and customer service, Setty said, "obviously, there is a requirement of adequately compensating our customers, but we would not like to fight in the rate war. I think most of the banks are also pursuing a balancing act of giving the right rate as well as right service. So, our focus is on improving the customer service and also adequately compensating our customers." In addition, he said, SBI has given thrust on opening new accounts and almost 50,000 to 60,000 savings bank accounts opened a day.

On the fixed deposit side, Setty said, almost 50 per cent of our fixed deposits are garnered through the digital channels only and also many accounts are opened through digital means.

Meanwhile, he also said that SBI is aiming to become the first Indian financial firm to cross a milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore net profit in the next 3-5 years.

SBI recorded a standalone net profit of Rs 61,077 crore in FY24, registering a growth of 21.59 per cent.

"We have potential. Definitely, we would like to be the first company in India to reach that milestone," Setty said when asked if it is possible to cross Rs 1 lakh crore in the next 3-5 years.

However, he said, "while profits, market capitalization etc. Are extremely important elements for our organization, we give equal thrust on customer-centricity and it acts as a fundamental aspect of our operations." With regard to corporate loan demand, Setty said, the bank has already got a Rs 4 lakh-crore strong credit pipeline from India Inc and capital expenditure by the private sector is expected to pick up in the second half of the fiscal year.