On 13 October, private sector DCB Bank announced plans to nearly double its 150-branch network to 290 branches in a year’s time. It said it would make “heavy” investments in customer and frontline facing technologies to enhance customer experience; and explore partnerships with start-ups that have disruptive banking concepts.
DCB, a co-operative bank (originally founded as a community bank by the Israeli community) that converted into a private sector bank in the 1990s, has had its fair share of ups and downs. But painstaking efforts to change the culture of the bank over the last eight years have strengthened its books and reflected in its share price. DCB’s aggressive branch expansion was to get an edge over upcoming competitors like small finance banks.
