Aegis, the back-office unit of the Essar Group, has bagged a five-year contract to provide back-office services to Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Though the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources indicated that the back-office company would generate ₹200 crore in revenue over the contract period.

As part of the arrangement, Aegis would also support and manage the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) Contact Centre on behalf of Punjab National Bank.

PMJDY is a national mission for financial inclusion. It aims to provide access to services such as banking, savings and deposit accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pension in an affordable manner.

This would be the first instance of a customer contact centre institutionalised by a public sector bank for the PMJDY, according to a statement from Aegis.

“This partnership with PNB is focused around improving operations, enhancing customer experience and bringing in innovation while reducing costs,” said Sandip Sen, Global CEO, Aegis.

Around 500 Aegis staffers would be deployed on this engagement initially in Gurgaon and Bhopal. The BPO company would provide multi-channel support for the bank across deposits operations, core banking processes, lending services, internet banking and account and card related services, the statement said.

Public sector banks are late entrants to the outsourcing club. They face resistance from employee unions, but are embracing the model to catch up with their private sector competitors and curb bad debts, analysts said.

Aegis has had substantial success in winning outsourcing contracts from public sector banks. It currently works with Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, for both voice and non-voice projects.

Founded in 1894, the BSE-listed PNB has a network of over 5,800 branches and more than 6,000 ATMs across 764 cities.

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