Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the mastermind behind Paytm, couldn’t hold back his admiration for HDFC Bank’s aggressive retail expansion.

What Happened? In a year, from June 2022 to June 2023, HDFC Bank inaugurated a whopping 1,482 branches. Breaking it down, Sharma pointed out the bank’s relentless pace, launching four branches daily. That’s a new branch every six hours, regardless of weekends, holidays, or weather conditions.

Sharma’s tweet, infused with genuine awe, dubbed this feat as “the most ambitious retail expansion in the country,” even coining it as “God Level Execution.”

But Sharma didn’t stop there. He shared insights from Aditya Kondawar of Complete Circle, spotlighting how HDFC’s expansion dwarfed its competitors. While SBI introduced 140 new branches and ICICI Bank rolled out 540, others like Kotak Mahindra and Axis Bank added 86 and 186 branches, respectively.

Retail aggression, but at a cost: Kondawar also shed light on the financial dynamics, noting HDFC Bank’s increased costs due to this aggressive strategy. He mentioned the bank’s own admission that a new branch typically takes 18-24 months to hit the breakeven point.

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