'Conservative lending, CASA growth priority'

DCB Bank plans credit cards against fixed deposits, avoids risky lending

- Shayan Ghosh

CB Bank, one of India's smallest private sector lenders, wants to play it safe. It is keeping a distance from unsecured loans, and banking on small businesses and individuals to bolster its relatively weak deposit ratios.

The focus will be on current and savings account (Casa) deposits and on overdraft products, Praveen Kutty, who took over as chief executive in April, said in an interview with Mint. Casa is the portion of low-cost deposits in banks. Savings accounts earn lower interest than term deposits or fixed deposits, while current accounts earn no interest. In banking parlance, overdraft facility is when lenders allow customers to withdraw money from their accounts even where they have little or no balance but levy an interest on it.