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Best Foreign Banks in India 2022

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05 Feb 2020 | 7 min read

India is one of the fastest-growing major economies and the world’s sixth-largest consumer market. The country is increasing integration into the global economy, and because of its young demographic, the country’s long-term growth perspective is positive. India has been attracting whopping foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in different sectors.  

India has dozens of commercial banks,  public sector banks, private banks and foreign banks. Foreign banks have been making a significant contribution to India’s economy. Around 46 foreign banks were operating in India as of September 30, 2020

Which is the best bank in India in 2021?  

Top 10 foreign banks in India  

Here are the top foreign banks in India based on their presence, operating branches or representative offices, customers and products & services offered.  

Citibank 

citi bank 

Citibank is a multinational American bank. The bank started operations in India in 1902 in Kolkata and is one of the leading foreign investors in the Indian financial market. Citibank has 44 branches in the country and caters to a wide spectrum of clients from top global corporations and small & mid-sized enterprises to households.  

  • Citibank offers products and services in two categories – Institutional Clients Group (ICG) and Global Consumer Bank (GCB). Some consumer banking products and services include Citibank Suvidha Salary Account for professionals, investment products, sizable loans and free worldwide ATM dispensation.   
  • Citibank initiated the Non-Resident proposition to serve the wealth management and banking needs of Indians around the world. Market-leading products and services are NRE/NRO savings account, loans and overdraft, global investments and easy money transfer.  

Standard Chartered Bank  

standard chartered bank 

Standard Chartered Bank is a multinational banking and financial services company of Britain. It is the largest international bank in India with 100 branches in 43 cities. Standard Chartered Bank with its subsidiaries offers a variety of products and services to different client segments including businesses and individuals, through Corporate and Institutional Banking, Commercial and Private Banking as well as Retail Banking.  

  • Key products offered by the bank are current and savings accounts, personal and other loans, deposits, mortgages, and credit cards; priority and private banking services; and wealth management services, bancassurance, credit solutions, investment portfolio management, insurance and advisory, and planning services.  
  • Some of the corporate finance series are cash management services, payment and transaction services. Financial market services include risk management, investment and debt capital market services, as well as online and electronic banking services.  

HSBC BANK 

HSBC 

HSBC Bank is a multinational banking and financial services company of Britain. It is one of the world’s largest banking and financial organizations. HSBC Bank India is an Indian subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The bank has its headquarter in Mumbai, Maharashtra. HSBC Bank is playing an important role in the development of the Indian banking sector; HSBC Bank set up India’s first ATM in 1987. 

HSBC Bank serves its customers in India through three global businesses: 

  • Retail Banking and Wealth Management: Domestic and NRI customers living in several countries around the world can avail of a host of banking products and services.  
  • Commercial Banking: HSBC Bank also provides a host of products and services to its corporate clients such as global liquidity and cash management services, business accounts, trade services, and a range of borrowing solutions.  
  • Global Banking and Markets: The bank offers financial products and services for corporate and institutional clients in the global banking and markets sector. Treasury services, investment banking, advisory, capital markets, foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives, among others, are global banking and market solutions offered by HSBC Bank. 

Royal Bank of Scotland  

RBS 

The Royal Bank of Scotland, popularly known as RBS, is a leading international banking and financial services company with its headquarter in Edinburgh. The bank serves over 24 million customers worldwide.  

  • RBS India started operations in September 2003 with the launch of its Microfinance business. RBS launched 3-year Microfinance Technical Assistance programme in the underserved regions i.e. North and North-East India and introduced ‘Supporting Enterprise’ programme to facilitate enterprises development.  
  • The Royal Bank of Scotland offers a host of financial products and services. Savings account, current account, term deposit, Demat account opening and cheque protect facility are the services offered by the bank. Other services include non-branch location RBS ATM/Drop boxes, and RBS Premise – RBS ATM/ Drop boxes, doorstep cheque pickup and cash delivery, cheque book requests, locker services, and foreign exchange services.  

Deutsche Bank AG 

Deutsche Bank AG is a German international investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded in Berlin in 1870, the bank has a presence in 58 countries in Europe, America and Asia. It is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private client franchise. 

Deutsche Bank India 

deutsche 

Deutsche Bank is a fully integrated financial services provider in India, preferred by the corporate, institutions and individual clients. Headquartered in Mumbai, the bank has 18 branches in India. It offers a wide array of financial products and services including on-shore investment banking, institutional equities broking, asset and private wealth management, retail banking and business processing outsourcing.  

  • Products like fixed deposits and different types of savings accounts are offered in personal banking. Credit products offered by Deutsche Bank include Eve business loan, loan against property, business instalment loan, home loan, personal loan, unsecured business loan, overdraft against fixed deposit etc. For business banking clients, Deutsche Bank offers doorstep banking, Deutsche Bank Magnus, trade services and forex, and business instalment loans. 
  • NRI customers can avail of banking solutions like NRI portfolio investment scheme, NRI value-plus savings account, NRI advantage banking, NRI fixed deposit, debit card, money transfer etc.  

DBS Bank 

DBS 

Development Bank of Singapore, popularly known as DBS Bank, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation. Operating with the objective to foster the financial relationship between India and Singapore, its Indian headquarter is located in Mumbai.  

  • DBS has a network of 12 bank branches across India in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore,  
  • Kolkata, Moradabad, Nashik, New Delhi, Pune, Cuddalore, Salem and Surat. DBS is a leading financial group in Asia and has been delivering best-in-class services for its customers in the region. 
  • DBS Bank extends a wide range of wholesale corporate and investment services such as corporate loans, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory services, and treasury services to financial institutions, corporate, and small and medium enterprise (SME) clients across industries and segments.  
  • DBS also caters to individual customers with a host of wealth management products. The bank offers custom-made NRI services to suit the various banking needs of the customers residing or working out of India. To help its premium customers meet their financial aspirations, the bank has come up with “DBS Treasures”, an exclusive wealth management service.  

Barclays Bank 

Barclays 

Barclays Bank is a British multinational investment bank and investment company. Headquartered in London, the bank operates in 40 countries across Europe, Asia, America, and Africa & Middle East. The bank has been operating in India since 1990 as one of the leading foreign banks serving over 9 lakh clients in the country.  

  • Barclays Bank caters to a wide array of customers and clients in India through investment banking, corporate banking and retail banking. The bank provides integrated commercial banking services to local and international companies, and non-banking financial companies. Trade & working capital, cash management, financial solutions are the corporate banking solutions offered for corporate clients.   
  • Investment banking solutions include comprehensive advisory, capital raising, financing and risk management services to the corporate, governments and financial institutions.  
  • Individual customers can avail of deposit products like current accounts, term deposits, savings account and debit cards; and BSIPL like wealth management and investment, portfolio management and broking services. Barclays also offers NRI banking solutions that include NRO savings account, NRE savings account, NRO deposits, NRE deposits, FCNR deposits, money transfer to India, and money transfer from India.  

Bank of America 

Bank of america 

Bank of America is an international financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was ranked 6th on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest companies in the world in 2018.  

Bank of America, N.A. India 

  • Bank of America, N.A. is a part of a broad global reach of Bank of America. The bank started operating in India through its Mumbai branch in 1964. Bank of America has four branches in India across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. The bank caters to the different financial needs of clients and customers in India including top Indian corporates, multinational corporates, multilateral agencies & foreign government entities, as well as financial institutions.    
  • The bank's India-based staff work together to leverage Bank of America's global strength to meet clients' banking products such as working capital & term loans, treasury management, export finance, global cash management, structured finance, trade products, foreign exchange services and currency solutions etc. 
  • Bank of America offers a wide array of lending, global treasury, interest rate and credit products to its partners. Overdraft facility, local bill discounting, and both import and export financing solutions are, among others, also offered by the bank.  
  • Bank of America also has CashPro®Online facility to provide a secure and efficient platform for customers to manage their banking relationships, receive funds, make payments, invest excess liquidity and view account balances anywhere in the world through a web browser. 

Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait  

Bank of bahrain 

Established in March 1971, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, also known as BBK, has 16 local branches, 5 overseas branches. The bank has been present in India since 1986 as a scheduled commercial bank. BBK has four branches in India across Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Aluva.  

  • Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait offers high quality banking solutions for its Indian customers. With its worldwide network of correspondents, BBK offers efficient Foreign Exchange & Trade Finance related solutions. The bank provides quality credit facilities, an array of deposit products, and NRI services. 
  • Working capital facilities, term loans, treasury products and current account facility are offered by BBK in corporate banking. Personal banking products include savings and current account, term deposits, recurring deposits, housing loan, consumer loan etc.  
  • BBK also caters to Non-Resident Indians by offering them services like personalised banking, share market investments, portfolio investment services, mutual fund investments etc.  

Doha Bank 

Doha Bank 

Doha Bank started international banking operations on 15 March 1979. The bank operates in Kuwait, Dubai (UAE), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi (India) through its branches. It also has representative offices in Japan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. 

Doha Bank, India 

  • Doha Bank started its operations in India in June 2014 from its first branch in Mumbai. Today it has 3 branches in Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi. Doha Bank provides trade finance and remittance related services with a wide correspondent network globally. 
  • Doha Bank offers an array of domestic and international banking services for corporate, commercial, institutional and individual clients through wholesale banking, retail banking and NRI banking.  
  • In the personal banking domain, Doha Bank extends several banking solutions including savings and current accounts, term deposits and remittances. It offers fund-based facilities, non-fund-based facilities, base rate facilities etc. under corporate banking. Trade solutions include advisory, export finance, imports and trade services.  
  • Doha Bank also caters to banking needs of its NRI clients for NRE and NRO accounts, NRI home loans, NRE, NRO and FCNR term deposits, Resident Foreign Currency account, wealth management solutions and remittance services.   

Key benefits of having international banks in India are: 

  • Easy international transactions 
  • Tax benefits 
  • Useful for NRIs’ especially 
  • Sometimes high returns 
  •  Value of money 

Conclusion:  

While there are dozens of foreign banks in India, this is the list of the top 10 foreign banks operating in the country and making a substantial contribution to the Indian economy for over many years. The above-mentioned foreign banks have been serving Indian clientele for a couple of decades. Leveraging state of the art technology, these banks have changed the way financial transactions were carried out in India

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