Standard Chartered Bank has reduced its branch count in India from 100 to 80 over the past year as part of a strategic shift toward advisory-led services. According to reports from Business Standard, the British lender has rationalised its presence by merging some branches that were in proximity to each other and closing down some single city branches. Despite the closures, Standard Chartered has not surrendered the branch licences to the Reserve Bank of India, with one source telling Business Standard that the bank is relooking at the licenses, whether they can be redeployed.
In response to queries from Business Standard, Standard Chartered confirmed it is consolidating and sharpening its focus on the wealth and affluent segment in India, moving from single-product relationships to multi-product relationships. The bank plans to expand its priority centres network from the current 20 centres to around 30 by the end of 2026. As reported by Business Standard, Standard Chartered remains committed to growing its wealth, SME and affluent banking business while continuing to invest in opening large format priority banking centres within existing branches, leveraging technology and increasing relationship managers.
Over the past couple of years, Standard Chartered has been systematically stripping assets from its India operations. According to Business Standard, the British lender sold the personal loan business to Kotak Mahindra Bank in October 2024, comprising a total loan outstanding of around ₹4,100 crore of standard assets. In April this year, Standard Chartered decided to sell 450,000 cards to private sector lender Federal Bank, in line with its strategy to move away from single-product relationships. The transaction is expected to close over the next three to six months, while the foreign lender continues to maintain 150,000 to 250,000 cards for its multi-product relationships.
The move aligns with broader trends among foreign lenders operating through branch networks, who have been exiting consumer businesses amid stiff competition from domestic banks. As reported by Business Standard, in 2023, US banking group Citi completed the sale of its India consumer business to Axis Bank for ₹11,603 crore. Deutsche Bank also decided to sell its India retail banking business to Kotak Mahindra Bank for ₹282 crore in June this year. However, London-headquartered HSBC took a contrarian approach in 2025, adding 20 new branches to its existing count of 26 in key cities including Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Navi Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram, reinforcing its focus on the wealth opportunity in India.
