Karnataka Bank to open 120 tiny branches by March next year

Karnataka Bank will open 120 ultra-small branches (USBs) by March 2014. According to a press release issued here on Saturday, the bank has so far opened 18 USBs, and eight more are proposed to be opened by March 31. With this, the bank is planning to close the current financial year with 26 USBs. The release said that another 94 USBs are planned for 2013-14. With this, the total of USBs will be 120 by March 2014. P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, said that the bank is taking up financial inclusion activities in 205 gram panchayats, covering 1,002 villages. With this, the bank plans to reach out to over 2.10 lakh households in 1,002 villages with a total population of 10.51 lakh. The release said that USB acts as an intermediary branch located at gram panchayat and linked to the base branch. While an officer from the base branch will visit the USB at least once a week and provide non-financial services, the basic financial services and transactions will be provided through business correspondents.