Private sector lender Dhanlaxmi Bank is gearing up to make entry into new segments in order to increase its net interest income. The need for this has been observed by the bank at a time when it is getting difficult margins owing to the continually rising interest rates, said a top official of the bank.

Amongst segments which the bank is eyeing as of now include retail gold sales as well as forex cards by the next fiscal.

"Gold has a good amount of growth potential. More and more demand is flowing into it as gold is considered to be a safe haven. I don't see prices falling and volumes keep on increasing," Bipin Kabra, CFO of the bank said.

"We are more Kerala-based, which is a big gold market. I don't have to sell the brand of Dhanlaxmi so we'll be looking at deeper penetration there."

Presently the bank has around 145 branches in Kerala and aims to be one of the biggest players in this segment in the ipcoming few years, said Kabra.