“As for Citibank, we are a full-service bank wherever we operate” PRAMIT JHAVERI CEO, Citigroup

WHEN HSBC (the erstwhile Hongkong Bank) set up the country’s first automated teller machine (ATM) in 1987 in good ol’ Bombay, it was an event. As you read this, the world’s costliest banking stock is that of HDFC Bank. It helps put distance in perspective.

When you plot desi versus foreign banks, you don’t get neat lines or a binary to work with. That’s because the world over, financial services is a highly regulated industry.. What’s true of one jurisdiction does not hold in another; it’s pointless to plea bargain on reciprocity. And in a globalised world what’s cutting edge can quickly become commoditised.