“ Good Banking is produced not by good laws, but by good  bankers.”  

With 12 banks entering history books since April 2017, ample space  is available created to bring in neo generation banks in Indian  financial firmament. In the unfolding saga of Bank restructuring,  Bhartiya Mahila Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank  of Hyderabad, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State  Bank of Travancore have merged into State Bank of India. Vijaya  Bank and Dena Bank subsumed into Bank of Baroda. Later,  Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank,Oriental Bank of  Commerce, Syndicate Bank & United Bank of India lost their identity.  

Presently only 12 public sector banks exist, namely Bank of  Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central  Bank of India, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National  Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank Union Bank of India and  State Bank of India. During this journey, Vysya Bank and Lakshmi  Vilas Bank have vanished from the Private Sector. These banks had  strong regional identity, the loyalty did not migrate to the  merging bank.  

Despite established leaders like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and  Axis Bank, five Neo banks have caught the imagination of  masses. AU Bank made big strides in Rajasthan to fill the void  created by SBBJ. Bandhan Bank occupied the place vacated by  United Bank of India and Allahabad Bank in northeast. Kotak  Mahindra Bank alongwith IDFC First Bank is meeting the  aspirations of Dena Bank clients in western India. And IndusInd  Bank has chosen Transport segment for focussed funding across  India. All five are making rapid strides as darling of Indian  masses. These banks have carved a niche as star players  through customer delight due to customer orientation. 

Shift from orthodox to digital expertise has escalated these IT saavy  banks grow faster. Imaginative marketing,opening accounts through 

eKYC enabled touchless modules coupled with high interest rates  in Savings accounts have made them leap frog as preferred  destinations for retail investors. Amitabh Bacchan invites  customers to join IDFC First Bank and Amer Khan wants  people to bank with AU Bank. Private and Public placement of  equity by all the five has been block buster success edging  government banks street behind in market capitalisation. The trend  reveals a growing apetite for quality banking in fledging Indian  economy poised for $ 5.0 trillion.  

1. Bandhan Bank : Kolkata based Bandhan Bank is present in 34  out of 36 states and union territories of India, with 5,596 outlets and  more than 2.35 crore customers. Bandhan started its microfinance  operations from Bagnan, a small village 60 km from Kolkata and is  the first instance in India of a microfinance entity transforming  into a universal bank focused on serving underbanked and  underpenetrated markets.  

Bandhan Bank embraced the most astonishing makeover from  a lender of self-help groups to a full fledged bank within no  time. Lead by Chandra Shekhar Ghosh whose first banking job  commenced as a Managing Director of this bank, Bandhan has  captivated the attention worldwide with investors falling over each  other to pickup its equity. The bank has been successful in carrying  forward image of a next door helpful lender to next stage,resulting  in mutiplication of customer base.With total business at Rs1.57 lac  cr,Capital Adequacy Ratio of 24.80% and NPAs at Rs2458 cr  (3.3%) and Cost to Income Ratio at 29.30% , Bandhan Bank an  emerging star. 

2. AU Small Finance Bank is an Indian scheduled commercial  bank that was founded as vehicle finance company AU Financiers  (India) Ltd in 1996 and converted to a small finance bank 2017.AU  Bank serves low and middle income individuals and micro and  small businesses that have limited or no access to formal  banking and finance channels. Bank ranked 355 in the list of  Fortune India 500 (2019) companies. With Rs.74879 cr business,  Rs.279 cr PAT, 22% CAR and NPAs Rs. 591 cr (1.7%) is a  promising bank.

Jaipur based AU Bank is a dream come true project of a young  chartered accountant Sanjay Agarwal, whose first banking job  also started as the Managing Director of his bank. Beginning  with small ticket loans for pre-used three wheelers, the moderate  NBFC, convinced RBI of the power of small transport operators to  take the nation forward. AU Bank is also a favourite destination  of big ticket investors of the Europe and Americas. Credit  Deposit ratio is 96% showing efficiency of funds investment.Overall  Cost of Funds reduced by 86 bps to 6.83% from 7.69% in  FY20.PAT jumped 73%. 

3. Kotak Mahindra Bank is Mumbai based and lead by astute  Uday Kotak. The bank has been growing organically and  inorganically. It has shown resilience in seamless absorption  of Vyasya Bank without undue noise.In February 2003, Kotak  Mahindra Finance Ltd. (KMFL), the group's flagship company,  received a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India. With  this, KMFL became the first non-banking finance company in India  to be converted into a bank.As per Brand Finance Banking 500  KMBL was ranked 245th among the world's top 500 banks with a  brand valuation of around US$481 million. Total business at Rs.  5.27 lac cr makes Kotak a leading bank in India today. 

In 2021, the bank acquired a 9.99% stake in Ferbine, an entity  promoted by Tata Group, to operate a Pan-India umbrella entity for  retail payment systems, similar to National Payments Corporation of  India.Total provisions 94% of GNPA, NNPA Rs.2491 cr (1.06%),  CASA Ratio 60.2% ,NIM 4.60% and PAT Rs.2032 cr, Kotak Bank is  a long term player in the making. 

4.IDFC First Bank with headquarters at Mumbai,has V  Vaidyanathan as driving force. Bank was founded as a new entity  by the merger of erstwhile IDFC Bank and Capital First in 2018.The  bank has turned around its image of an exclusive Corporate lender  to a small ticket lender of MSME and Retail segment. The bank is  first in India to launch Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant  solution.One of its largest loans into e-commerce includes a ₹3  billion (US$40 million) loan to Flipkart.Bank entered into a  strategic partnership with digital payments solution company  MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card recently. 

Retail assets 64% of gross funded assets. Retail constitutes  68% of funded loan assets. Wholesale funded book decreased  by 15% YOY to Rs. 32,148 crore as on June 30, 2021 from Rs.  37,928 crore as on June 30, 2020. Infrastructure loans decreased  by 23% with business worth Rs.1.92 lac cr, CAR 15.60%, PAT  Rs.152 cr and NNPA Rs.2150 cr (2.09%) , Bank is a player of  future.  

IndusInd Bank based at Pune was inaugurated in April 1994 by  then Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.Bank has Mr.  Sumant Kathpalia as CEO with experience in Citibank, Bank of  America and ABN AMRO.The bank started its operations with ₹100  crores (10 billion) in capital, of which ₹60 crores were raised by  Indian residents and ₹40 crores were raised by NRIs. 

IndusInd Bank is a universal Bank with a widespread banking  footprint with over 2.5 crore customers, over 5,000 distribution  points and nearly 2,000 branches across the country. IndusInd  has representative offices in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.Total  loan related provisions at 122% of GNPA ,and GNPA and NNPA for  at 2.77% and 0.80% respectively.Cost / Income at 41.13% (amid  continued investment in network & digital augmentation , IndusInd  has business worth Rs. 4.96 lac cr with bright future. 

Banking is the backbone of economy as it has a direct bearing on  financial well being of society. According to the RBI, bank credit  stood at 109 lac cr (US$ 1.46 trillion) and bank deposits stood at  Rs. 155 lac cr (US$ 2.08 trillion), as of July 16, 2021.Credit to non 

food industries stood at Rs. 108 lac cr (US$ 1.45 trillion).The above  five banks have a share of 6% to the financial muscle power of the  Indian banking system, positioning as emerging stars of India. 

India is ready with a second line of banks raring to take  responsibity of building it as a new IT saavy nation of good  bankers and great banks. 

“ Bankers change the world, many customers at a time."

(Mr. Hargovind Sachdev has over 39 years of banking experience having occupied senior positions in UCO Bank, United Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore & State Bank of India where he headed the Central European Credit Desk at Frankfurt, Germany from 2006 to 2011 covering 15 countries of Central Europe.)