Bangalore: To tap millions
of customers who walk into his stores, Kishore Biyani is planning to
introduce consumer loans and other investment options of Future Capital
Holdings in Big Bazaar, central and Pantaloons.
Biyani is the Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail (India) and the
Group CEO of Future Group. The move is expected to aid in reviving the
financial services business that failed to pick up because of the
initial public offering (IPO) during the boom. It had also planned to
collaborate with the nation's second largest lender, ICICI bank, for
launching credit cards but it could not happen.
Biyani said, "The business will go through a virtual integration with retail because of the synergies of a common consumer."
The group had hired Goldman Sachs Group executive Sameer Jain as the
Vice Chairman and CEO of Future Capital holdings and economist Roopa
Purushothaman to pursue its financial services but the plans were not
materialized due to the global meltdown. These plans are being
reconsidered.
A common group, Retail Financial Services, with members from Future
group, Future capital Holdings (FCH) and Centrum Capital has been
formed. The group would be responsible for integrating credit and
personal investment products offered by FCH such as consumer loans,
stock investing, forex and wealth management products from Centrum
Capital and insurance products from the group's joint venture, Future
Generali on a common platform.