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Asif Iqbal
Doha
Doha bank is set to expand its operations in India and is planning to open its third branch next year, Chief Executive Officer, R Seetharaman has said.
"We have obtained all the necessary approvals and the civil works are under way for the opening of our third branch in Chennai, in South India in February next year," Seetharaman told Qatar Tribune.
He said the opening of the Chennai branch follows the opening of the first branch in Mumbai in 2015, followed by the second branch in Kochi in 2016.
Asked if the bank has plans to open branches in some other countries, Setharaman said Doha Bank has several representative offices overseas and is planning to turn them into full-fledged operations.
"We have some plans for the representative office and we are waiting for regulatory approval to turn them into full operations," he said.
In July earlier this year, Seetharaman had said the bank was planning to convert its 11-year old representative office in Singapore into full-scale operation branch.
"The bank will enter any market where it can invest and make profit for the bank's shareholders," he said.
In recent years, Doha Bank has established several representative offices overseas to act as a liaison to facilitate trade and investment between the GCC and countries in which the representative offices are located.
"It helps facilitate GCC companies, looking to establish their business or looking to invest in other countries," the Doha Bank CEO said.
Regarding the domestic market, Seethraman said the bank currently has 28 branches including the recently opened branch at the Doha Festival City.
He said the bank would continue to focus on e-banking as it believes it will be the growth engine for the bank.
"Our focus is on brick-to-click marketing, but those who still wish to come to our branches, are welcome," Seetharaman said.
He said digital transformation would lead to creation of new business models.
Seetharaman added,"With global growth still struggling to accelerate, innovations in technology can act as an enabler of growth.
"Digital ecosystem is significantly more than digital banking; it takes a holistic view of the customer. The connectivity between various service providers is lot more in a digital ecosystem than in a digital banking environment."
He said with the rise in the penetration of Internet and smartphones, digital payment systems are gaining prominence and the banks are exploring and uncovering multiple channels of communication with the customers."This will be critical for the banking industry's growth," he noted.
Seetharaman said Doha Bank has allocated substantial resources to adapt its business models with the financial technology revolution and a fine example of this was the success of its Doha Souq portal .
