Hong Kong-based Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) is looking to make inroads in the mass market banking by tapping its estimated P32 billion ($700 million) deposit base to create more middle-sector businesses.

Stanchart CEO Mahendra Gursahani, who assumed his new post June 1, said the six-branch bank will explore niche marketing. "(We're) more in the upper tier sector but we're trying to get more of the mid-size market and we will concentrate on more (loan and consumer) products," he told reporters Wednesday. "We're getting more payroll accounts and enhancing e-banking."

Mahendra said Stanchart will improve on its corporate lending and to create more business for the private sector who wants to expand or go regional.

But at the moment the foreign bank is constrained by the central bank licensing rules and regulations.

"The only way to expand branches is to acquire (a bank). We will look at opportunities to buy ... anything that will give us a foothold in the market," the new CEO said. The bank will also explore the possibility of establishing a business process outsourcing unit in the Philippines, its second after the 7,000-strong India hub. "We wanted a second site (and) the Philippines is starting to present an option."

"With our limited presence, our strategy has to be more focused," Mahendra added. Stanchart is, in fact, planning to hire 40 to 50 more relationship managers in the next three months. "We're in the middle of a recruitment drive to take advantage of the growth and opportunities here."

Stanchart's credit card business is also one of the significant brands here. "Our credit card business' market share is quite small but our focus is the quality of credit." In the meantime, credit impairment levels are "higher than what we want but we're seeing a strong downward trajectory."

Still on the credit environment, on the consumer side, Mehendra said that "there's some distress" in the credit sector which should temper expectations in consumer lending. Half of the bank's loan portfolio is consumer loans and the other half is corporate lending. "(In the next months) we're developing our SME segment and we're sizing up the opportunities. Our lending to SMEs are generally collaterallized by property or by other assets so we're reviewing it to apply local benchmarks."