As Uday Kotak resigns, a look back at Kotak Bank's inception and his response to RBI's granting of license

livemint.com:

Mumbai: Amid Uday Kotak's unanticipated resignation as the CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, three months ahead of schedule, it's an opportune time to revisit the bank's inception in 2003 and Uday Kotak's response to the RBI's granting of a banking license to the then non-bank lender. Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak believed that the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2003 to convert non-bank lender Kotak Mahindra Finance into a bank was a vote of trust. “More than anything else, this is a vote of trust.

Trust is what we, at Kotak Mahindra, have always strived for. With our shareholders, customers, employees and all our constituents," he had said in the bank's first annual report (2002-03) after coming into existence. Kotak had recalled the date quite vividly: 22 March 2003, a Saturday when Kotak Mahindra became a bank.

“Even as this fact was sinking in, the news channels were beaming live images of the war raging in Iraq and sports channels were euphoric about India's entry into the final of the cricket World Cup. It was a bit Dickensian," he had said. As per Kotak’s statement in 2003, since a bank is central to a customer's financial relationships, the banking platform will meet all his/her financial needs under one roof.

“Our technology is designed with this in mind. Our products are designed with this in mind. And so is our new corporate identity.

We may be six different businesses. But in our customer's mind, we will be one brand," he had said, adding that over a period of time, the bank would work towards making it his/her most preferred financial services brand. Kotak Mahindra, he had said, started life as three people in a 300-square-foot office at Mumbai's Flora Fountain.