This study examines corporate salary-account acquisition as a potential catalyst for wholesale-linked liability and CASA growth in the Pune corporate banking market, using an exploratory micro-market study conducted during an On the Job Training assignment at HDFC Bank’s Blue Ridge branch, Hinjawadi. The study focuses on four commercial clusters: Hinjawadi, Kharadi–Magarpatta, Baner–Balewadi, and Chakan–Talegaon–Pimpri-Chinchwad. A purposive sample of 62 corporate entities was mapped using a structured master tracker covering micro-market, industry, approximate workforce size, existing salary and wholesale banking relationships, reported banker-choice factors, and HDFC Bank relationship status. The analysis uses descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and thematic coding rather than inferential statistical testing. The findings indicate that branch/ATM proximity, absence of minimum-balance charges, and digital account-opening and servicing experience are recurring factors in salary-account banker choice, with differences between IT/ITES and manufacturing clusters. Within the sample, the proportion of entities having both salary-account and wholesale relationships with HDFC Bank increased across workforce-size bands. The salary-to-wholesale conversion analysis indicates an observable but incomplete linkage, with follow-up after salary-account acquisition emerging as a practical point of weakness. The study therefore supports a coordinated relationship-banking approach in which salary-account acquisition and employer-level wholesale relationship development are deliberately sequenced. Because the sample was purposive and limited to 62 entities across selected Pune micro-markets, the findings are indicative of the sample and should not be interpreted as statistically representative of Pune’s entire corporate sector.

Keywords: Corporate Salary Accounts; CASA Growth; Liability Acquisition; Wholesale Banking; Relationship Banking; HDFC Bank; Pune