IN Singapore, an individual looking to put up gold jewellery as collateral to borrow cash would typically go to a pawnbroker. In India, however, it is common to do this with a bank. Many of India’s banks offer so-called gold loans, to tap the large gold holdings of Indian families.

So when DBS acquired ailing Indian lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) in late 2020, it also found itself with a “massive” gold loan business that was unfamiliar.

Sanjoy Sen, who heads up DBS’ consumer banking franchise across the region, said the bank decided to lean on the expertise of others. It has been working with IIFL, an Indian finance and investment services company, which helps it to acquire gold loans.