The State Bank of IndiaJeddah branch, which was officially inaugurated in Jeddah Wednesday evening by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Deputy Governor Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Khalaf, will focus on corporate, retail and remittance business all under one roof, said Hemant G. Contractor, Managing Director & Group Executive (International Banking). “Indians here are looking for the fastest transfer, lowest charges and highest exchange rate for sending remittances to India. Our offering will address all these needs,” he said in an interview with the Saudi Gazette. Excerpts from the interview: Q: Congratulations for launching your first branch in Saudi Arabia! There were plans to open eight SBI branches in Saudi Arabia. Is the bank still pursuing the case with SAMA to let it open more branches in Saudi Arabia? A: Our special thanks to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for giving us permission to set up the first Indian bank in the kingdom. We are grateful to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the regulators, for allowing us to start operations in Jeddah. We would like to grow our Jeddah branch operation before venturing to other centers. Jeddah has been known historically as a place of commerce and we wish to engage ourselves with the potential available in this city. Opening of branches in other places is on our radar depending upon regulatory approvals and the availability of sufficient business potential. Q: In this age of net and phone banking when people can access their accounts in India sitting in Saudi Arabia, what facilities and services will SBI offer to woo them to open accounts at its Jeddah branch? A: We do have a remittance product called ‘SBI Super remit' (it is really super) for sending remittances online to any bank in India. Funds will reach almost instantly SBI account holders in India and maximum by the next day in the case of other banks. Even corporate accountholders can use our online banking facilities for their transactions and other purposes. We also offer trade related remittances in major currencies at attractive terms to the corporate customers looking to send funds across the globe. A large number of services on both sides of the balance sheet and beyond the balance sheet as well are on offer. On the liability side, innovative deposit products, besides the usual items like savings accounts, current accounts and time deposits and on the asset side, project finance, syndication, SME lending, trade finance, etc. are offered. We will focus on corporate, retail and remittance business all under one roof, which is unique to our operations. Furthermore, our robust technology platform, committed team, global experience and strong brand image will be the USP for our operations. Q: Everyone talks about value-added products. What values you are adding to your products and how significant are these products for your prospective international clients? A: Our rupee remittance product ‘SBI super remit' is very robust in terms of speed and convenience. Indians here are looking for the fastest transfer, lowest charges and highest exchange rate for sending remittances to India. Our offering will address all these needs and therefore we hope to garner a good market share in this space. These triple benefits make SBI super remit product, the best in the market. One more thing is that no additional charges are levied in India for remittances to any bank. All our branches in India are networked, so are our associate banks. Furthermore, we will also be handling remittances meant for customers of other banks in India. As such, we will be leveraging on our network, technology platform to transfer funds almost instantly. Our focus will be both on commercial and retail business sectors. Q: There are many banks operating in collaboration with other banks here which have branches in India also. So how is SBI going to be different and how is SBI going to be competitive? A: In today's financial market, product differentiators are minimal. They mostly look alike; cloned but costumed differently. Customers are intelligent. They can easily see the differences and similarities. Technology platforms too are similar; the same with core banking platforms. And yes, the market determines the price. So, the differentiator or, as you put it, the competitive advantages remain with what value proposition you offer to the customers. For us, our strength lies in the Indian Diaspora. Second, our international network is spread over 34 countries. Third, we are one of the Fortune 500 top international banks which indicates the strength of our balance sheet and most importantly, the fourth, we have a culture of modesty and transparency – we never over-promise and under-deliver. We, as a corporate policy, never indulge in sharp practices. We are trustworthy people. Our brand has inspired confidence in almost one-fifth of mankind for over two centuries now. Q: Will the exchange rate be the same as offered by other banks here or will it be less? What about service charges? A: Our “SBI Super Remit” has triple advantages for expatriates remitting their hard earned money to India at competitive rates. Furthermore, the amount remitted by you will be the amount received by the beneficiary in India since there will not be any deduction of charge in India. Apart from this, our customer service will be a differentiator in this segment. Q: How much will SBI's presence here help facilitate trade between India and Saudi Arabia? A: India has a strong bi-lateral relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The volume of bi-lateral trade between the two countries is around USD 25 billion. The visit of King Abdullah, Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, to Delhi a couple of years back and that of our honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to the Kingdom, last year along with a business delegation amply demonstrates the two governments' and the business fraternity's commitment to stronger ties between our two great nations, which will no doubt result in enhanced business flows. Insofar as Indo-Saudi joint ventures are concerned, our experience elsewhere in the world is that, wherever we are established, our bank has been the most preferred lender to Indian joint ventures. We will strive to retain this coveted position in the Kingdom too. Q: For the benefit of Indian expats - most of whom are in blue collar jobs - please brief us on a few basic things: Can an account opened here be operated from India when a worker goes on vacation or goes on a final exit? Will an ATM card issued here incur international service charges when operated in India? A: We will offer a number of benefits to Indian expats. We have especially designed our product “SBI Super Remit” for the benefit of expats in blue collar jobs. The accounts opened here cannot be operated from India since both these accounts will be in different currencies. However, if the account holder, going on vacation, has an internet banking facility, the balance in the Saudi account can be transferred to the Indian account in SBI through internet banking. However, the expat going on final exit has to close the account before leaving the country since his residence permit is no longer valid on his final exit. ATM cards, at present, will not be issued to customers since we are working on the infrastructural requirement for the same. Hopefully, we will be issuing ATM cards to our customers soon after the completion of the required infrastructure. However, we will be offering internet banking as well as a personalized cheque book facility both to corporate and retail customers. __
