India

Kotak Mahindra Bank

The spectacular collapse of a fast-growing private lender in early March has dealt yet another blow to India’s already shaky finance industry, led to the arrest of its founder and thrown a spotlight on the bank’s aggressive lending practices.

The financial industry has been a mess, hit by defaults, rising bad loans, corporate governance scandals, frauds and, most recently, the government rescue of Yes Bank - the worst may be over, but things aren’t tidy yet.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, winner of Asiamoney’s award for the best firm for microfinance in India, was set up in 2005 as a micro-lending institution, so its credentials in the microfinance segment are unrivalled.

As a state-owned bank, Punjab National Bank has a big mandate concerning corporate social responsibility. But it is a mission it has embraced wholeheartedly, making it Asiamoney’s choice for best bank for CSR for the second year in a row.

Nearly every bank in India flags its credentials in two important areas: the digital franchise and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients. Under chief executive Sandeep Bakhshi, ICICI Bank has done a stellar job at bringing those together, tailoring its numerous digital offerings to its vast SME client base – making it Asiamoney’s best bank for SMEs.

Axis Bank has made digital banking an integral part of its operations for some time now, but last year, its leadership and strength really stood out.

Winning corporate and investment banking mandates in India is no easy feat: the privately owned banks are not only competing against each other, but also against the state-owned banks and a slew of international banks that have long-standing relationships with clients.

Citi has beaten other foreign banks in the Indian market for years now, and this year was no exception.