1.   Bankinter has carved out a niche for itself in Spanish banking as a lender to small- and medium-sized companies and a leader in retail banking.

2.   It is harder to transfer retail banking products and practices from country to country.

3.   Last year, Citibank opened a corporate branch office in Israel and was granted a license to open retail banking offices there.

4.   New York-based Citibank, the largest credit card issuer in the world, is unique in building retail banking businesses worldwide.

5.   Indusind planned to diversify into international banking, wholesale corporate banking, non-resident Indian services and retail banking, he said.

6.   Banking analysts said the retrenchment was prudent as the retail banking services it was offering were duplicating those of commercial banks.