Mumbai

HSBC Holdings plc said it plans to close 24 branches in India after a strategic review of its retail banking and wealth management business showed that customers are increasingly opting for digital banking services.

The bank said it will consolidate from 50 branches across 29 cities to 26 branches across 14 cities, and the closures will take place gradually over the next few months. The move comes five months after the lender said it was exiting its private banking unit in India as part of its group strategy. The branches being closed account for less than 10 per cent of the company's retail customer base in India, the bank said. Reuters