Which bank should you open an account with if you wish to do international business?

👉🏼 When NRIs ask me which bank to open an account with for savings and funds kept in India, I mostly recommend ICICI Bank for their NRI customer service that I’ve observed.

👉🏼 However, the answer changes when we speak about a business owner in India who wishes to do international business across countries.

👉🏼 That’s because you ideally want to build a credit history with a bank for your Indian business over years so that when you expand overseas, the foreign branch can offer you better terms of financing based on your priority relationship with the bank in India.

Let’s start with my observations from Africa…

Over the past two years, Indian banks have realised the massive potential that lies in Africa, specifically in East Africa…

And this is showing immensely in how rapidly they’re opening branches across the continent.

They’re serving all the traders and business men from India which are entering the African market…

There’s one Indian bank I’ve literally spotted in every major city I’m going to.

They supposedly have 45 branches in Africa and are said to open 16 more, and has the largest footprint of Indian banks in the continent.

It’s Bank of Baroda.

These are spread across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana and Seychelles.

👉🏼 Next in line are Bank of India (BOI) and SBI.

SBI is looking to additionally capture countries of Nigeria, Angola and Egypt.

Others like ICICI Bank and Central Bank are looking to enter as well.

Among all the Indians I’m interacting with here, it seems like most are banking with Bank of Baroda or Bank of India.

Canara Bank apparently comes as a close fourth.

👉🏼 And this data reflects similarly in other parts of the world too.

So you see, you don’t need these banks as much for payments because most internet baking today is accessible no matter where you are.

It’s the credit history that matters…

Especially when in high financial risk countries like those in Africa, business loans can cost as much as 18% p.a. even for well established businesses.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel: bit.ly/3cpTleK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like, Share, Subscribe for more!

Follow me on my other social media handles for all updates, events and live sessions-
Instagram: www.instagram.com/casarthakah...
LinkedIn: in.linkedin.com/in/sarthak-ah...
Website: www.casahuja.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Chartered Accountant with about 10 years of experience in areas of Tax Advisory, Startup Consulting, Fundraising, Audits, Deal Advisory, Business Modelling and contract CFO services.

Winner of the ISB Young Leader Award 2017 and the Best All Rounder, PGP Class of '17, Sarthak has also been published about in the leading financial newspapers such as The Financial Express as possibly the youngest Indian to have completed the courses of CA, CS and CMA along with a graduate degree in Financial & Investment Analysis from University of Delhi, all by the age of