HDFC Bank Limited (‘HDFC Bank’) operates as a new-generation private sector bank in India.
The company provides financial services to its customers in India across metro, urban, semi-urban, and rural markets. The company’s strategy is to provide a comprehensive range of financial products and services to its customers through multiple distribution channels. Since completion of the Transaction on July 1, 2023, the company is also engaged in life and general insurance, asset management, and secur...
HDFC Bank Limited (‘HDFC Bank’) operates as a new-generation private sector bank in India.
The company provides financial services to its customers in India across metro, urban, semi-urban, and rural markets. The company’s strategy is to provide a comprehensive range of financial products and services to its customers through multiple distribution channels. Since completion of the Transaction on July 1, 2023, the company is also engaged in life and general insurance, asset management, and securities broking products and services through its specialized subsidiaries and joint venture.
The company has four principal business activities: retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury services, and insurance services. The company’s retail banking products include deposit products, loans (including housing loans and loans to small and medium enterprises), credit cards, debit cards, third-party mutual funds, and insurance products, bill payment services, and other products and services. With respect to wholesale banking, the company offers customers a wide range of commercial and transactional banking services, including working capital finance, trade services, transactional services, and cash management. The company is also a leading provider of structured solutions in India, which combine cash management services with vendor and distributor finance to facilitate supply chain management for the company’s corporate customers. Since completion of the Transaction, the company also provides construction finance. The company’s treasury operations manage its balance sheet, including liquidity and interest rate risks thereon, and include customer-driven services such as advisory services related to foreign exchange and derivative transactions for corporate and institutional customers, supplemented by proprietary trading, including Indian Government securities.
The company’s non-banking finance company (‘NBFC’) subsidiary, HDB Financial Services Limited (‘HDBFSL’), offers a wide range of loans and asset finance products, including mortgage loans, commercial vehicle loans, consumer loans, and gold loans, as well as a range of business process outsourcing solutions. The company provides its customers with brokerage accounts through its subsidiary, HDFC Securities Limited (‘HSL’), which is one of the leading stock brokerage companies in India and which offers a suite of products and services across various asset classes, such as equity, gold, and debt, and via multiple platforms, i.e., online, mobile, telephone, and branches.
Since completion of the Transaction, the company provides long-term life insurance solutions via its subsidiary, HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited (‘HDFC Life’), and a complete range of general insurance products via its joint venture, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited (‘HDFC ERGO’). The company also offers a comprehensive suite of savings and investment products via its subsidiary, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (‘HDFC AMC’), one of India’s largest mutual fund managers.
As of March 31, 2025, the company was in 4,150 cities and towns and served over 96.9 million customers. In addition, as of March 31, 2025, the company had 15,399 business correspondents, which were primarily manned by common service centers (‘CSCs’).
Business Strategy
The company's strategy is to provide a comprehensive range of financial products and services to its customers through multiple distribution channels.
The key elements of the company's business strategy are to expand the company’s market share in India’s growing banking and financial services sector; continued investments in technology to advance its digital strategy; cross-sell its broad financial product portfolio across its customer base; and embed ESG principles within its wider business strategy.
Segment
The company operates in five reportable segments: wholesale banking, retail banking, insurance services, treasury services, and others.
Retail Banking
The retail banking segment serves retail customers through a branch network and other delivery channels. This segment raises deposits from customers and grants loans, provides credit cards and debit cards, and distributes third-party financial products, such as mutual funds and insurance to such customers. Revenues of the retail banking segment are derived from interest earned on retail loans, fees for banking services, profit from foreign exchange and derivative transactions, and interest earned from other segments for surplus funds placed with those segments. The company’s retail banking loan products also include loans to small and medium enterprises for commercial vehicles, construction equipment, and other business purposes.
Wholesale Banking
The wholesale banking segment provides loans and transaction services to corporate customers. Revenues of the wholesale banking segment consist of interest earned on loans given to corporate customers, investment income from credit substitutes, interest earned on the cash float arising from transaction services, fees from such transaction services, and profits from foreign exchange and derivative transactions with wholesale banking customers.
Treasury Services
The treasury services segment undertakes trading operations on a proprietary account (including investments in government securities), foreign exchange operations, and derivatives trading both on a proprietary account and customer flows and borrowings. Revenues of the treasury services segment primarily consist of fees and gains and losses from trading operations and of net interest revenue/expense from investments in government securities and borrowings.
Insurance Services
The insurance services segment comprises the life insurance business, which offers a wide range of individual and group insurance solutions, such as protection, pension, savings, investment, annuity, and health. Revenues from the insurance segment consist of premiums, investment income from managed assets, linked income (fund management charges, policy administration charges, mortality charges, surrender charge, discontinuance charges, reinstatement fees, etc.), and other miscellaneous income.
Others
The others segment comprises businesses other than the retail banking segment, wholesale banking segment, treasury services segment, and insurance services segment.
Principal Business Activities
The company’s principal business activities consist of retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury services, and insurance services.
Retail Banking
The company considers itself a one-stop shop for the financial needs of its customers. The company provides a comprehensive range of financial products, including deposit products, loans, credit cards, debit cards, payment wallets, third-party mutual funds, and insurance products, bill payment services, and other services. The company’s retail banking loan products include loans to small and medium enterprises for commercial vehicles, construction equipment, and other business purposes. The company groups these loans as part of its retail banking business considering, among other things, the customer profile, the nature of the product, the differing risks and returns, the market segment, its organization structure, and its internal business reporting mechanism. Such grouping ensures optimal utilization and deployment of specialized resources in the company’s retail banking business. Since completion of the Transaction, the company is directly engaged in providing housing loans. The company also has specific products designed for lower-income individuals through its Sustainable Livelihood Initiative. Through this initiative, the company reaches out to the unbanked and underbanked segments of the Indian population in rural areas. The company actively markets its services through its banking outlets and alternate sales channels, as well as through its relationships with automobile dealers and corporate clients. The company’s newly launched digital platform, HDFC Bank XpressWay, offers a range of products and services digitally. It currently offers over 40 banking products, including loans, credit cards, account opening, investments, pre-approved banking offers, as well as multiple value-added services.
As of March 31, 2025, the company had branches and ATMs/CDMs in 4,150 cities and towns. In addition, the company had 15,399 business correspondents, which were primarily manned by CSCs. The company also provides telephone, internet, and mobile banking to its customers. The company plans to continue to expand its banking outlet and ATM network, as well as its other distribution channels, subject to regulatory guidelines/approvals.
Retail Loans and Other Asset Products
The company offers a wide range of retail loans, including loans for the purchase of automobiles, personal loans, retail business banking loans, loans for the purchase of commercial vehicles, and construction equipment finance, housing loans, two-wheeler loans, credit cards, and loans against securities. These retail loans, of which 19.5 percent were unsecured, constituted 75.2 percent of the company’s gross loans as of March 31, 2025. Apart from the company’s banking outlets, the company uses its ATMs, telephone banking, internet banking, and mobile banking to promote its loan products. The company performs its own credit analysis of the borrowers and the value of the collateral if the loan is secured.
The company also buys mortgage and other asset-backed securities and invests in retail loan portfolios through assignments. In addition to taking collateral, in most cases, the company obtains debit instructions or Automated Clearing House (‘ACH’) transfers through the electronic clearing systems covering repayments at the time a retail loan is made. The company’s unsecured personal loans, which are not supported by any collateral, are a greater credit risk for the company than its secured loan portfolio. The company may be unable to collect in part or at all on an unsecured personal loan in the event of non-payment by the borrower.
Auto Loans
The company offers loans at fixed interest rates for financing new and used car purchases, including electric vehicles, which have gained significant popularity in recent years. In addition to the company’s general promotional efforts, the company specifically markets its offerings at various customer touch points, such as authorized original equipment manufacturers, dealer showrooms and outlets, authorized direct sales agents, and its banking outlets, as well as actively cross-selling these products through other lending businesses of the company. The company also markets its products through outbound and inbound calls with customers, as well as through the company’s digital touch points.
Personal Loans and Credit Cards
The company offers unsecured loans at fixed rates to salaried individuals, self-employed professionals, small businesses, and individual businessmen.
The company offers credit cards on VISA, MasterCard, Diners Club, and RuPay platforms under the classification of corporate cards, business cards, co-brand cards, premium retail cards, and super premium retail cards. The company had approximately 23.8 million cards outstanding (i.e., total credit cards in circulation) as of March 31, 2025.
The company offers easy equated monthly installments (‘Easy EMI’) through consumer durable loans and cardless EMI. Consumer durable loans and cardless EMI are available at no extra cost across multiple product categories under multiple brands.
The company’s efforts in the payments business are continuously focused on meeting customers’ specific requirements in the most accessible and relevant manner, while simplifying transactions.
The company has adopted preventive measures to strengthen its IT infrastructure and mitigate the risks of outages. Some of the key initiatives undertaken include the migration of core data centers in Bengaluru and Mumbai to state-of-the-art facilities, which has reinforced its capability to switchover more than 100 critical and not so critical (Application Availability Rating 3 & 4) applications within 30 to 120 minutes when needed.
The company has 11 critical applications for which Active-Active architecture has been implemented.
As part of the company’s Hybrid-Cloud strategy, the company has successfully implemented an industry-first common landing zone across leading cloud service providers (‘CSPs’). This creates a secure and streamlined environment for all cloud deployments in the future by leveraging the scalability of cloud systems as needed. It facilitates distribution of workload across multiple CSPs by seamlessly switching between providers, which allows for uninterrupted service.
Retail Business Banking
The company addresses the borrowing needs of the community of small businessmen primarily located within the servicing range of the company’s banking outlets by offering facilities, such as credit lines, term loans for expansion or addition of facilities, and discounting of receivables. The company classifies these business banking loans as a retail product. Such lending is typically secured with current assets, as well as immovable property and fixed assets in some cases. The company also covers some of these loans under Government guarantee schemes, such as the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (‘CGTMSE’), among others. The company also offers letters of credit, guarantees, and other basic trade finance products, foreign exchange, and cash management services to such businesses.
Commercial Vehicles and Construction Equipment Finance
The company has a strong market presence in the commercial vehicle and construction equipment financing businesses. The company offers a wide range of banking products across the country, which can be customized to the individual needs of its customers.
The company provides secured financing for a full range of commercial vehicles and construction equipment, along with working capital, trade advances, bank guarantees, and transaction banking products and services, among others, both traditional and digital, to companies active in the infrastructure, logistics, and transportation industries. In addition to funding domestic assets, the company also extends financing for imported assets for which it opens foreign letters of credit and offers treasury services, including forex and forward exchange covers.
Housing Loans
On July 1, 2023, the company acquired a housing loans portfolio of Rs. 5,241.9 billion from HDFC Limited. There was a smooth and seamless integration of this business into the company. Since completion of the Transaction, the company is directly engaged in financing the purchase and construction of residential houses. The company offers a wide range of loans at floating interest rates to low, middle, and high-income salaried and self-employed segments, including professionals, for the financing of housing property purchases through builders and development authorities, resales, and own construction, residential plot purchases, and construction thereon. The company also offers loans to extend or add space to existing homes and to carry out enhancements or renovations of existing homes. The company also caters to the affordable housing and rural housing segments.
In addition to the company’s general promotional efforts, the company specifically markets its product and customer offerings at various customer touch points, such as its banking outlets, authorized direct sales agents, and through other lending businesses of the company. The company also markets its products through outbound and inbound calls with customers, as well as through the company’s digital touch points.
Other Retail Loans
Two-Wheeler Loans
The company offers loans for financing the purchase of mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles, including electric vehicles, which have gained significant popularity in recent years. The company markets this product in ways similar to its marketing of automobile loans.
Loans Against Securities
The company offers loans against equity shares, mutual fund units, bonds, and other securities that are on its approved list. The company limits its loans against equity shares to Rs. 2.0 million per retail customer in line with regulatory guidelines and limits the amount of its total exposure secured by particular securities. The company lends only against shares in book-entry (dematerialized) form, which ensures that it obtains perfected and first-priority security interests. The minimum margin for lending against shares is prescribed by the RBI. The collateral value of the security for these loans is dependent on the quoted price of the security.
Loan Assignments
The company purchases loan portfolios, generally in India, from other banks, financial institutions, and financial companies, which are similar to asset-backed securities, except that such loans are not represented by pass-through certificates (‘PTCs’). Some of these loans also qualify toward the company’s directed lending obligations.
Agri & Allied Finance
Under Agri & Allied Finance, funds are extended to farmers in accordance with the RBI’s Kisan Credit Card scheme, which is aimed at financing agricultural and related credit requirements. The Agri & Allied Finance is a credit facility of a specified amount, which is offered to farmers to finance certain requirements, including the production of crops, post-harvest repair and maintenance expenses, miscellaneous consumption needs, and allied agricultural activities, such as, among others, animal husbandry (dairy and poultry) and fisheries. In addition to loans for recurring needs, long-term investment loans are granted for purposes including the purchase of farm machinery, establishing warehouse/logistical facilities, and land development activities, such as the digging of tube wells, installation of irrigation sprinklers, construction of post-harvest management infrastructure, and community farming assets like custom hiring centers, the purchase of drones, packaging, assaying, and sorting grading units, primary processing centers, and sheds for animals.
Depending on the requirements, various types of facilities are extended under the scheme. These include cash credit, overdrafts, term loans, farm development loans, and drop line overdraft limits. The amount of cash credit funding is based on the farmer’s cropping pattern, the amount of land used, and the scale of finance for specific crops. With respect to working capital for allied activities (e.g., cattle rearing, poultry, fishery), funding is based on the scale of finance and the number of units or acreage, while for term loans, it is based on the unit cost of assets proposed to be financed. These facilities are extended to farmers based on the crop grown, harvest cycle, geography, and region.
Through the company’s knowledge of rural customers’ preferences, the company has established a strong footprint in rural areas and is able to impact the lives of thousands of rural people, making banking accessible to areas that lack formal sources of financial services, including credit. The company’s focus in rural markets is not only to increase credit uptake but also to strengthen relationships with rural customers by empowering them. In addition to advising farmers on their financial needs, the company is increasingly focusing on educating them on the benefits of various governmental and regulatory schemes, such as crop insurance, interest subvention, the agriculture infrastructure fund, National Livestock Mission, Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (‘PMFME’), and the solar irrigation pump under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (‘PM KUSUM’).
Loans Against Gold Jewelry
The company offers loans against gold jewelry and ornaments to all customer segments of the Indian diaspora. Gold loans play a crucial role in financial inclusion and allow need-based lending to individuals, entrepreneurs, farmers, and micro businesses in the Indian economy. Such loans are typically offered with different repayment modes, with repayment either at monthly intervals or at maturity. The collateral value is dependent on the market price of the gold, and therefore these loans also have margin requirements in the event of a decrease in the value of the gold. Customers may avail themselves of an additional loan in case of an increase in the value of the gold. Lending against gold jewelry is most of the time the last resort for a customer. New businesses without regular cash flows or facing liquidity issues on account of external circumstances beyond their control look at gold loans to tide over their temporary liquidity requirement.
The company also offers loans which primarily include loans/overdrafts against time deposits, healthcare equipment financing loans, tractor loans, education loans, and loans to self-help groups.
Retail Deposit Products
Retail deposits provide the company with a low-cost, stable funding base and have been a key focus area for the company since commencing operations. Retail deposits represented approximately 83.0 percent of the company’s total deposits as of March 31, 2025.
The company’s retail account holders have access to the benefits of a wide range of direct banking services, including debit and ATM cards, access to internet, phone banking, and mobile banking services, access to its growing branch and ATM network, access to its other distribution channels, and facilities for utility bill payments and other services. The company’s retail deposit products include the following:
Savings accounts, which are demand deposits, primarily for individuals and trusts.
Current accounts, which are non-interest-bearing accounts designed primarily for business customers, allow customers to select from a wide range of product offerings, which are differentiated by minimum average quarterly account balance requirements and the nature of the transactions.
Time deposits, which pay a fixed return over a predetermined time period, are also offered.
As of March 31, 2025, 25.0 percent of the company’s retail deposit customers (managed base) contributed 75.0 percent of its retail deposits.
The company also offers special value-added facilities, which provide its customers added value and convenience. These include a savings account that allows for automatic transfers from the savings account to a time deposit account, as well as a time deposit account with an overdraft facility.
Other Retail Services and Products
Debit Cards
The company had approximately 59.3 million debit cards outstanding as of March 31, 2025. The cards can be used at ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, and payment gateways in India and in other countries across the world.
Merchant Acquiring
The company provides offline and online acceptance solutions to small, medium, and large enterprises for payment acceptance across all form factors, such as credit and debit cards (Visa/MasterCard/Diners Club/RuPay cards), UPI, multi-bank EMI, multi-bank internet banking, and wallets. The company had approximately 5.7 million acceptance points as of March 31, 2025.
Individual Depository Accounts
The company provides depository accounts to individual retail customers for holding debt and equity instruments. Securities traded on the Indian exchanges are generally not held through a broker’s account or in a street name. Instead, an individual has his or her own account with a depository participant. Depository participants, including the company, provide services through the major depositories established by the two major stock exchanges. Depository participants record ownership details and effect transfers in book-entry form on behalf of the buyers and sellers of securities. The company provides a complete package of services, including account opening, registration of transfers, and other transactions and information reporting.
Mutual Fund Distribution
The company is a registered distributor with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (‘AMFI’). The company engages in distributing mutual fund products to its customers through its staff, who are AMFI certified. The company offers units of most large and reputable mutual fund houses in India to its customers. The company distributes mutual fund products primarily through its banking platforms, outlets, and its wealth relationship managers. The company receives trail income on the new business, as well as on the existing assets under management.
Insurance Distribution
HDFC Bank is registered as a corporate agent for the solicitation of life, general, and health insurance, and agriculture insurance business under regulations prescribed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. Currently, the company has arrangements with its subsidiary, HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited, and two other life insurance companies, namely Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited and Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited. The company’s joint venture, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited, and three other general insurance companies, namely Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, and Go Digit General Insurance Company Limited, as well as two health insurance companies, namely Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company Limited and Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited, and one agriculture insurance company, named Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. The company earns commissions on new premium collected, as well as trail income in subsequent years in certain cases while the policy is still in force, from the above life, general, and health insurance companies.
Bill Payment Services
The company is a part of the Bharat Bill Payment System network and offers its customers bill payment services for all utility companies, including water, electricity, gas, mobile postpaid, telephone, broadband, direct-to-home, mobile recharge, FASTag, LPG cylinder, municipal services, cable television, housing society, tax, hospital, subscription, donation, clubs & associations, and internet service providers, as well as financial products, such as credit card, insurance, gold scheme recurring deposit, loan, and mutual funds, as well as rent payment and educational billers. The company also offers Smartpay (auto pay functionality) for all these bills. The company offers these services to customers through multiple distribution channels: internet banking, mobile banking, and phone banking.
Corporate Salary Accounts
The company offers corporate salary accounts to employees of corporate and government entities, enabling employees’ salaries to be credited by the entity directly or via the company. A salary account is a type of savings account with no minimum balance requirement in lieu of regular salary credits. Benefits, including a premium debit card and complimentary personal accident cover, are provided, among others. The company also offers salary accounts tailored for employees of the defense and government sector. As of March 31, 2025, these accounts constituted 27.6 percent of the company’s savings deposits by value.
Non-Resident Indian Services
Non-resident Indians (‘NRIs’) are an important target market segment for the company, given their relative affluence and strong ties with family members in India. The company’s private and premium banking programs in India are also extended to NRI clients. Relationship managers in India facilitate the banking and investment transactions of its NRI clients. Through the company’s overseas branch in Bahrain, the company offers deposits, bonds, equity, mutual funds, treasury, and structured products offered by third parties to the company’s NRI clients. The company also has referral arrangements with product or service providers for NRI clients.
Retail Foreign Exchange
The company sells and purchases foreign exchange with retail customers in the form of foreign currency cash, demand drafts, forex cards, and wire remittances – both inward and outward. The company also carries out foreign currency cheque collections and purchases of traveler’s cheques.
Customers and Marketing
The company identifies and targets distinct market customer segments for its retail financial services. Customers are at the core of all marketing initiatives of the company, and the company relies on digital and analytics to improve their experience. Digital marketing relies on advanced analytics to identify and offer the right products and services to each customer based on their specific needs. The company’s investments in AI platforms help it understand customer behavior and preferences in depth and deliver contextual personalized interventions at scale. The company uses modern marketing tools to reach customers at their preferred channels and provide frictionless digital journeys that allow customers to consume its financial products and services. The company executes digital marketing plans at scale and in tandem with traditional marketing channels to provide its customers quick and easy access to all its financial solutions, including loans, deposits, and payment solutions.
Marketing has also created a connected customer experience between the company’s physical and digital channels for both sales and service using AI and Digital Journey investments.
The ‘Infinite Smiles’ program helps the company establish customer-centric actions through improvements in products, services, processes, and policies, and enables the company to measure customer loyalty through a closed-loop customer feedback system. The insights the company receives help it implement changes to further improve customer experiences and strengthen their loyalty.
The company also has programs that target other specific segments of the retail market. For example, under the company’s private and premium banking programs, the relationship managers distribute mutual funds and insurance products and provide incidental advice related to these products. The company also offers a digital investment platform called ‘HDFC Bank SmartWealth,’ which provides customers with access to mutual funds, fixed deposits, and more, allowing them to manage their investments online conveniently. Customers interested in alternate products (such as fixed income, private equity, alternate investment funds, and structures) or services, such as succession planning, trust formation, and will writing are referred directly to product and service providers where the company has referral arrangements. In addition, the company participates in the distribution of government bonds and has referral tie-ups with other corporates and asset management companies (‘AMCs’) for customers desirous of availing themselves of products and services that synergize with the company’s businesses.
The company continues to be strongly committed to financial inclusion programs that extend banking services to underserved populations. The company’s Sustainable Livelihood Initiative caters to lower-income individuals to finance their economic activity, and also provides skills training, livelihood financing, credit counseling, and market linkages in terms of access to, or contacts in, their local markets.
Wholesale Banking
The company provides its corporate and institutional clients with a wide range of commercial banking products and transactional services.
The company’s principal commercial banking products include a range of financing products, documentary credits (primarily letters of credit), and bank guarantees, foreign exchange and derivative products, investment banking services, and corporate deposit products. The company’s financing products include loans, overdrafts, bill discounting, and credit substitutes, such as commercial paper, debentures, preference shares, and other funded products. The company’s foreign exchange and derivatives products assist corporations in managing their currency and interest rate exposures. The company serves them by extending credit, as well as by offering banking products and solutions that assist in managing their entire financial business cycle.
In terms of commercial banking products, the company’s customers include companies that are part of private sector business houses, public sector enterprises, multinational corporations, and the Government, as well as small and mid-sized businesses. The company’s customers also include suppliers and distributors of corporations to whom it provides credit facilities and with whom it thereby establishes relationships as part of a supply chain initiative for both its commercial banking products and transactional services. The company has relationship managers who focus on particular clients and who work with teams that specialize in providing specific products and services, such as cash management and treasury advisory services.
The company provides a comprehensive suite of platforms tailored to meet the diverse needs of corporate clients. Among these, the company’s Corporate Net Banking platform stands out, offering both the reliable e-Net service and the more recently upgraded CBX platform. The company’s Trade Platform—Trade on Net (‘TON’) facilitates efficient trade transactions. Additionally, the company’s Supply Chain Finance (‘SCF’) transaction platform enables digital contract bookings and automated disbursements, streamlining end-to-end SCF transactions for corporates. The company’s Bank has also integrated with all three TReDS platforms.
Loans to small and medium enterprises, which are generally loans for commercial vehicles, construction equipment, and business purposes, are included as part of its retail banking business. The company groups these loans as part of its retail banking business considering, among other things, the customer profile, the nature of the product, the differing risks and returns, its organization structure, and its internal business reporting mechanism. Such grouping ensures optimal utilization and deployment of specialized resources in its retail banking business.
The company’s principal transactional services include cash management services, capital markets transactional services, and correspondent banking services. The company provides physical and electronic payment and collection mechanisms to a range of corporations, financial institutions, and Government entities. The company’s capital markets transactional services include custodial services for mutual funds and clearing bank services for the major Indian stock exchanges and commodity exchanges. In addition, the company provides correspondent banking services, including cash management services and funds transfers, to foreign banks and co-operative banks.
Commercial Banking Products
Commercial Loan Products and Credit Substitutes
The company’s principal financing products are working capital facilities and term loans. Working capital facilities primarily consist of cash credit facilities and bill discounting. Cash credit facilities are revolving credits provided to the company’s customers that are secured by working capital, such as inventory and accounts receivable. Bill discounting consists of short-term loans, which are secured by bills of exchange that have been accepted by its customers or drawn on another bank. In many cases, the company provides a package of working capital financing that may consist of loans and a cash credit facility, as well as documentary credits or bank guarantees. Term loans consist of short-term loans and medium-term loans, which are typically loans of up to five years in duration. In specific cases and based on the merit of the proposal, the tenor of a term loan can be greater than five years. As of March 31, 2025, over 90.0 percent of the company’s loans were denominated in rupees, with the balance being denominated in various foreign currencies, principally the U.S. dollar.
The company also purchases credit substitutes, which typically comprise commercial paper and debentures issued by the same customers with whom it has a lending relationship in the company’s wholesale banking business. Investment decisions for credit substitute securities are subject to the same credit approval processes as loans, and the company bears the same customer risk as it does for loans extended to these customers. Additionally, the yield and maturity terms are generally directly negotiated by the company with the issuer.
On July 1, 2023, the company acquired a non-individual loans portfolio of Rs. 1,015.0 billion from HDFC Limited. There was a smooth and seamless integration of this business into the company. Since completion of the Transaction, the company provides construction finance for residential and commercial properties. Construction finance loans are generally fully secured and have full recourse against the borrower.
Bill Collection, Documentary Credits, and Bank Guarantees
The company provides bill collection, documentary credit facilities, and bank guarantees for its corporate customers. Documentary credits and bank guarantees are typically provided on an ongoing basis.
Bill Collection: The company provides bill collection services for its corporate clients in which it collects bills on behalf of a corporate client from the company of its client’s customer (i.e., import bill collection). Under the import bill collection system, the company receives instructions from the overseas bank/exporter, deals with necessary documents, and effects remittances on behalf of its clients. The company also provides export collection, where it receives documents from its corporate clients and sends such documents to the overseas bank/importer for collection. Once the export collection is realized, the company credits its corporate clients’ accounts with the relevant amount.
Documentary Credits: The company issues documentary credit facilities on behalf of its customers for trade financing, sourcing of raw materials, and capital equipment purchases.
Bank Guarantees: The company provides bank guarantees on behalf of its customers to guarantee their payment or performance obligations. A part of the company’s guarantee portfolio consists of margin guarantees to brokers issued in favor of stock exchanges.
Foreign Exchange and Derivatives
The company’s foreign exchange and derivative product offerings to its customers cover a range of products, such as spot and forward foreign exchange contracts, forward rate agreements, currency swaps, currency options, and interest rate derivatives. These transactions enable the company’s customers to hedge or reduce their risk on foreign exchange and interest rate exposure. A specified group of relationship managers from the company’s treasury front office works on such product offerings in line with the customers’ risk and other requirements, and within the framework of its Suitability and Appropriateness policy.
Forward foreign exchange contracts are commitments to buy or sell fixed amounts of currency at a future date at the contracted rate. Currency swaps are commitments to exchange cash flows by way of interest in one currency against another currency and exchange of principal amounts at maturity based on predetermined rates. Rupee interest rate swaps are commitments to exchange fixed and floating rate cash flows in rupees without exchanging the notional principal. A forward rate agreement gives the buyer the ability to determine the underlying rate of interest for a specified period commencing on a specified future date (the settlement date) when the settlement amount is determined, being the difference between the contracted rate and the market rate on the settlement date. The underlying rate of interest could be an interest rate curve, interest rate index, or bond yield. Options give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell specified amounts of currency at agreed rates of exchange on or before a specified future date.
The company enters into forward exchange contracts, currency options, forward rate agreements, currency swaps, and rupee interest rate swaps in the inter-bank market, broadly to support customer requirements and, to a limited extent, for its own account.
Investment Banking
The company’s Investment Banking Group offers services in the debt and equity capital markets. The group has arranged project financing for clients across various sectors, including telecom, roads, healthcare, energy, real estate, and cement. The group advised on aggregate primary debt issuances of over Rs. 906.2 billion worth of rupee-denominated corporate bonds across public sector undertakings, financial institutions, and its corporate clients, which positioned the company among the top three corporate bond arrangers in the market for fiscal year 2025. In the equity capital markets business, the group is working on various transactions and concluded five initial public offerings, including an infrastructure investment trust (‘InvIT’) during fiscal year 2025. In the advisory business, the company advises clients in the infrastructure, consumer, new economy and digital, financial services, defense, and industrials sectors. The company also completed a private placement for an InvIT.
Wholesale Deposit Products
The company offers both non-interest-bearing current accounts and time deposits. The company is permitted to vary the interest rates on its wholesale deposits based on the size of the deposit (for deposits greater than Rs. 30.0 million), provided the rates booked on a day are the same for all customers of that deposit size for that maturity.
Transactional Services
Cash Management Services
The company is a technology-driven bank and has been providing digital CMS solutions to its customers from diverse industry segments.
The company offers traditional and new-age digital banking products and has experienced increasing demand for digital banking services.
Clearing Bank Services for Stock and Commodity Exchanges
The company is a clearing bank for the cash and derivatives (‘F&O’) segment, currency derivatives, commodity derivatives, securities lending and borrowing, and other segments for the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (‘NSE’), the BSE Limited, the Multi Commodity Exchange (‘MCX’), National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (‘NCDEX’), the Indian Energy Exchange (‘IEX’), the Indian Gas Exchange (‘IGX’), and Power Exchange India Limited (‘PXI’), as well as the three exchanges set up in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (‘GIFT City’): NSE International Limited and India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Limited (‘IIBX’).
As a clearing bank, the company provides the exchanges or their clearing corporations with a means for collecting and making payments as part of settlement obligations to investors through registered brokers and custodians. In addition to benefiting from the current account balances that help reduce the company’s overall cost of funds, the company also earns interest, transaction fees, and commissions by offering various fund-based and non-fund-based facilities and transactional services to the stock brokers and clearing members.
Custodial Services
The company is registered as a custodian with India’s securities market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (the ‘SEBI’). As custodians, the company provides custody services to domestic and foreign investors that include domestic mutual funds, portfolio managers, insurance companies, alternative investment funds, and Foreign Portfolio Investors (‘FPIs’). These services include safekeeping of securities, trade settlement, collection of dividends and interest payments on securities, fund accounting services, securities lending and borrowing, and derivatives clearing services (including currency derivatives and interest rate futures). The company is also registered as a designated depository participant (‘DDP’) with the SEBI to grant registration to foreign investors for portfolio investments in India as FPIs.
The company’s international banking unit, HDFC Bank-IBU, is registered as custodian at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City International Financial Services Centre (‘GIFT IFSC’) with the International Financial Services Centers Authority (‘IFSCA’) and provides custody services to clients for securities in GIFT IFSC and overseas securities. The company’s IBU also acts as custodian for the NSE International Financial Services Centre (‘NSE IFSC’) receipts issued against the underlying U.S. securities listed on NYSE or NASDAQ and admitted by the NSE IFSC exchange in GIFT City.
Correspondent Banking Services
The company acts as a correspondent bank for co-operative banks, foreign banks, and certain private banks. The company provides cash management services, funds transfer services, such as letters of credit, foreign exchange transactions, and foreign cheque collection. The company earns revenue on a fee-for-service basis and benefits from the cash float, which reduces its overall cost of funds.
The company is well-positioned to offer this service to co-operative banks, foreign banks, and select private banks in light of the structure of the Indian banking industry and its position within it. Co-operative banks are generally restricted to a particular state, and foreign banks and some private banks have limited branch networks. The customers of these banks frequently need services in other areas of the country where their own banks do not operate. Because of the company’s technology platforms, its geographical reach, and the electronic connectivity of its branch network, the company can provide these banks with the ability to offer such services to their customers.
Tax Collections and Distribution of Welfare Schemes
Among other banks, the company has been appointed by the Government of India to collect direct taxes. In fiscal year 2025, the company collected Rs. 6,083 billion of direct taxes for the Government of India. The company is also appointed to collect Goods and Services Tax (‘GST’) and other indirect taxes in India. In fiscal year 2025, the company collected Rs. 5,156 billion of such indirect taxes for the Government of India. Additionally, Rs. 170 billion were collected as taxes for relevant state governments in fiscal year 2025. The company also processes e-freight transactions for its customers; volumes processed for fiscal year 2025 were Rs. 110 billion. The company earns a fee from both central and state governments for the tax transactions processed and benefits from the build-up of account balances.
The company also disburses funds for various welfare programs of various government entities to the related agencies or end beneficiaries.
Treasury Services
The company’s treasury group manages its balance sheet, including its maintenance of reserve requirements and the management of market and liquidity risk. The company’s treasury group also provides advice and execution services to its corporate and institutional customers with respect to their foreign exchange and derivatives transactions. In addition, the company’s treasury group seeks to optimize profits from its proprietary trading, which is principally concentrated on Indian Government securities.
The company’s client-based activities consist primarily of advising corporate and institutional customers and transacting spot and forward foreign exchange contracts and derivatives. The company’s primary customers are multinational corporations, large- and medium-sized domestic corporations, financial institutions, banks, and public sector undertakings. The company also advises and enters into foreign exchange contracts with some small companies and NRIs.
Foreign Exchange and Derivatives
The company’s treasury operations primarily include liquidity management and managing the interest rate risks in its investment portfolio, along with limited proprietary trading.
The company’s treasury operations also include foreign exchange and derivative product offerings to its customers covering a range of products, including foreign exchange and interest rate transactions and hedging solutions, such as spot and forward exchange contracts, forward rate agreements, and derivatives. While ‘plain vanilla’ products are offered to all customer segments, derivative products are offered mostly to the company’s wholesale customers in accordance with the RBI guidelines.
The company also enters into derivative contracts not denominated in rupees. Typically, the market risks arising out of such products are economically hedged in the interbank market.
Domestic Money Market and Debt Securities Desk
The company’s principal activity in the domestic money market and debt securities market is to ensure that it complies with its reserve requirements, including the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (‘LCR’). These consist of a cash reserve ratio, which the company meets by maintaining balances with the RBI, and a statutory liquidity ratio, which the company meets by purchasing Indian Government securities. The company meets the LCR requirement by maintaining an adequate level of high-quality liquid assets, consisting mainly of Government securities, above its mandated statutory requirements. The company’s average liquidity coverage ratio for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was 119.04 percent on a consolidated basis. This ratio was higher than the regulatory requirement of 100 percent. The company’s local balance sheet desk primarily deals in Indian Government securities for its own account. The company also participates in the inter-bank call deposit market and engages in limited trading of other debt instruments.
Equities Market
The company trades in a selected list of equities of Indian companies for its own account as part of the equity trading portfolio of its treasury operations, which are specified in the approved list of equity universe that is reviewed at least on a quarterly basis or on a need-based basis as mandated in its internal policy. As of March 31, 2025, the company had an internal aggregate approved limit of Rs. 1,300 million for proprietary equity trading, which included Rs. 650 million (defined as a sub-limit of the aggregate approved limit) for primary purchases of equity investments for proprietary trading and Rs. 260 million (defined as a sub-limit of the aggregate approved limit) for investment in equity mutual funds for proprietary trading with requisite approvals. The company sets limits on the amount invested in any individual company, as well as a stop-loss trigger level and a value-at-risk limit for the proprietary equity trading portfolio. The company’s exposure as of March 31, 2025, was within these limits.
In addition, the company had long-term and strategic investments in equities and equity-linked instruments within the Board-approved quantum for such investments.
Insurance Services
Since completion of the Transaction, the company provides a wide range of life insurance products and services through its subsidiary HDFC Life, which is listed on Indian stock exchanges. The company’s share ownership in HDFC Life was 50.3 percent as of March 31, 2025. HDFC Life has two wholly owned subsidiaries, HDFC Pension Fund Management Limited (‘HDFC Pension’), which is a pension fund manager under the National Pension System architecture, and HDFC International Life & Re. Company Limited in the Dubai International Financial Centre, which continues to offer treaty and facultative-led reinsurance solutions to cedents and client partners, across life and medical insurance lines. The company’s life insurance business offers a range of individual and group insurance solutions that meet various customer needs, such as protection, pension, savings, investment, annuity, and health through a multi-channel distribution network, which comprises 0.24 million agents, branches across India, and a wide spectrum of more than 300 partnerships.
Others
Asset Management Services
The company provides asset management services through its subsidiary HDFC AMC, in which it has a 52.5 percent interest and which has been appointed as the investment manager to HDFC Mutual Fund, one of India’s largest mutual funds. HDFC AMC had 280 offices as of March 31, 2025.
The company also provides portfolio management services, advisory services, and investment management services to alternative investment funds (‘AIFs’). HDFC AMC has also been appointed as the investment manager to HDFC AMC AIF-II, and acts as the investment manager, settlor, and sponsor to HDFC AMC Structured Credit AIF-I, a Category II AIF, and the company is entitled to a management fee as per the terms of the agreement and any other fees as agreed.
Education Loans
From July 1, 2023, until October 18, 2024, the company provided various services to schools, toward admissions, website development, creating awareness in the community, technology and design consultancy, vendor management, academic content training, and other support services required for the smooth functioning of the institutions, through HDFC Edu, a former subsidiary of HDFC Limited that became a wholly owned subsidiary of the company upon completion of the Transaction.
From July 1, 2023, until March 2024, the company also provided loans to students pursuing higher education in India and abroad through HDFC Credila, a subsidiary of HDFC Limited that became the company’s subsidiary upon completion of the Transaction. Then, as directed by the RBI in connection with the Transaction, the company divested a portion of the share capital of HDFC Credila to Kopvoorn B.V., Moss Investments Limited, Defati Investments Holding B.V., and Infinity Partners and reduced the company’s holding to 9.99 percent during fiscal year 2024.
Real Estate Financing
The company provides real estate private equity financing through investment vehicles managed by its subsidiary HDFC Capital. Via managed investment vehicles, the company provides long-term equity and mezzanine capital to developers, predominantly for the development of affordable and mid-income housing in India. Further, the company seeks to promote innovation and the adoption of new technologies by investing in and partnering with technology companies focused on providing solutions for the real estate sector.
Distribution Channels
The company delivers its products and services through a variety of distribution channels, including banking outlets, direct sales agents, ATMs, phone banking, internet banking, mobile banking, SMS-based banking, and WhatsApp banking.
Banking Outlets
The company’s banking outlets comprise branches and business correspondents. As of March 31, 2025, the company had branches covering 4,150 cities and towns. In addition, the company had 15,399 business correspondents, which were primarily manned by CSCs. The CSCs are instrumental in increasing the company’s penetration in deeper geographies. The company is aligned with the Government’s Digital Banking Units Initiative (‘DBUs’) to extend efficient, secure, paperless banking services to remote areas. The company has established nine DBUs in India.
All of the company’s banking outlets are electronically linked so that its customers can access their accounts from any banking outlet, regardless of where they have their accounts. The company offers various banking services to its customers through its arrangements with correspondent banks and exchange houses in overseas locations.
The company has overseas branches in Bahrain, Hong Kong, the Dubai International Finance Centre (‘DIFC’), and Singapore. These branches cater to the needs of the company’s overseas clients, both corporate and individual. They offer banking services like deposit taking, trade products, foreign exchange and derivatives hedging, and wealth management (primarily to non-resident individual customers). In addition, the company has representative offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Nairobi, and London. The company also has an International Banking Unit (IBU) in the International Financial Service Centre Banking Unit at the GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Automated Teller Machines
All of the company’s ATMs and Cash Recycler Machines (‘CRMs’) are equipped with a voice-guided system and a Braille keypad for the visually challenged. Customers can use the company’s ATMs for a variety of functions, including withdrawing cash, checking bank balances, mobile recharge/top-up, and cardless cash withdrawals. Customers can access their accounts from any of the HDFC Bank ATMs or non-HDFC Bank ATMs. ATM cards issued by American Express or other banks in the Rupay, Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, JCB, UPI, Cirrus, Citrus, or Discover Financial Services networks can be used in the company’s ATMs, and the company receives a fee for each transaction. The company’s debit cards issued with respective networks (Rupay/VISA/MasterCard) can be used at ATMs of other banks for which the company pays the acquiring bank a fee. Additionally, the company’s customers can use CRMs for cash deposits along with other transactions.
Phone Banking
The company provides phone banking services to its customers via toll-free numbers accessible across India. Customers can access their accounts over the phone through the company’s 24-hour automated voice response system and can conduct balance and transaction inquiries, order cheque books, and order stop payments of cheques. In certain cities, the company also has staff available during select hours to assist customers who want to speak directly to one of its telephone bankers. Agent services are available round the clock for critical transactions like reporting suspected fraudulent or unauthorized transactions and blocking of cards, accounts, or UPIs, among others.
Mobile Banking
The company’s mobile banking application aims to harmoniously integrate traditional banking with digital advancements. It features an intuitive and robust design, enabling customers to effortlessly access and manage their accounts. Key functionalities include transferring funds via the national electronic funds transfer (‘NEFT’), making immediate payments using the Unified Payments Interface (‘UPI’), managing bills and investments, and sending money instantly to recipients in Nepal, Singapore, and other countries through cross-border UPI support. The application also supports investment access through InvestNow by HSL, making wealth management more accessible. To further enhance customer convenience, users can now add beneficiaries with real-time RBI-backed validation, ensuring accurate and seamless first-time additions. In the event of fraud or incorrect transactions, customers can directly raise credit card disputes within the app, ensuring quicker resolution. To bolster security, the company has incorporated a ‘Runtime Application Self-Protection’ (‘RASP’) feature, which safeguards the app against sophisticated security threats, such as screen sharing and remote access. Additionally, the company has implemented Mobile Number Verification, restricting access only to devices with bank-registered SIM cards, thereby significantly reducing the risk of cyber fraud and enhancing account security. Enhanced security protocols have also been integrated to provide a stronger, more resilient layer of data protection across all user interactions.
Internet Banking
The company’s internet banking facility provides customers with a convenient and safe way to manage their banking needs from the comfort of their home or office. With 24/7 access, users can perform almost all banking transactions online while being assured of the highest levels of security standards. The company’s internet banking platform offers a comprehensive range of services, including viewing balances and statements, transferring funds, paying bills, opening term and recurring deposit accounts, recharging mobile and direct-to-home recharges, ordering cheque books, and even online shopping. This wide range of features allows the company’s customers to enjoy a seamless and hassle-free banking experience and provides a comprehensive, safe, and convenient solution for all banking needs.
Payment Wallets
PayZapp, relaunched in March 2023, provides a comprehensive solution for all payment, banking, and financial requirements for the company’s internal and external customers. It offers a platform for making different types of payments, including grocery, food delivery, shopping, mobile and direct-to-home recharges, rent payments, FASTag recharge, and utility bills. Using PayZapp, customers can also apply for a credit card or a personal loan, send money to others, and transfer money to a bank account.
Available for Sale Securities
AFS debt securities are carried at fair value. Such fair values are based on quoted market prices, where available. If quoted market prices do not exist, fair values are estimated using the market yield on the balance period to maturity on similar instruments and similar credit risks. The fair value of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities is estimated based on revised estimated cash flows at each balance sheet date, discounted at current market pricing for transactions with similar risk. A reduction in the estimated cash flows of these instruments will adversely impact the value of these securities. A change in the timing of these estimated cash flows will also impact the value of these securities.
Loans
The fair values of consumer installment loans and other consumer loans that do not reprice or mature frequently are estimated using discounted cash flow models. The discount rates are based on internal models. The fair value of loans would decrease (increase) in value based upon an increase (decrease) in discount rate. Since substantially all individual lines of credit and other variable-rate consumer loans reprice frequently, with interest rates reflecting current market pricing, the carrying values of these loans approximate their fair values.
The fair values of commercial loans that do not reprice or mature within relatively short time frames are estimated using discounted cash flow models. The discount rates are based on internal models. The fair value of loans would decrease (increase) in value based upon an increase (decrease) in discount rate. For commercial loans that reprice within relatively short time frames, the carrying values approximate their fair values. For purposes of these fair value estimates, the fair values of impaired loans were computed by deducting an estimated market discount from their carrying values to reflect the uncertainty of future cash flows.
The fair values of loans that do not reprice or mature within relatively short time frames are estimated using discounted cash flow models and are classified as Level 3 as the input used for the valuation is internal credit spreads, which are based on internal models and are considered unobservable. Loans that reprice within relatively short time frames, the carrying values approximate their fair values; accordingly, they are classified as Level 2.
Deposits
The fair value of demand deposits, savings deposits, and money market deposits without defined maturities are the amounts payable on demand. For deposits with defined maturities, the fair values are estimated using discounted cash flow models that apply market interest rates corresponding to similar deposits and timing of maturities.
Intellectual Property
The company utilizes a number of different forms of intellectual property in its business, including its HDFC Bank brand and the brands of the subsidiaries and joint ventures that it acquired in the Transaction, and the names of the various products it provides to its customers.
History
HDFC Bank Limited was founded in 1994. The company was incorporated in 1994.
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