Transferring your balance from savings bank to fixed deposit, will be a click away for customers of Syndicate Bank soon. All that is required is registration on Internet banking.
Called e-Term Deposit, the product will be launched in the next week to 10 days. It will be one of the slew of new customer-friendly products, that the Manipal-headquartered bank is coming out with, said Anjaneya Prasad, Executive Director.
The other new initiatives are a gold debit card and e-lounge branches.
In the case of the gold debit cards, the card-holder will have the option of withdrawing up to Rs 1 lakh from an ATM.
Currently, the upper limit on the debit cards is Rs 15,000 maximum, he told Business Line recently.
The e-Lounge branch, which will be a 24 hour self-operating unit, is coming up in Bangalore.
Soon, such branches will be opened in all the metros, he said. It will also cater to the high networth individuals.
Asked about the bank’s preparedness to meet the Basel II norms, he said “We are on course to be compliant by 2015.
Our requirement is for Rs 1,400 crore. We have represented to the Government for capital as first choice. Will explore raising funds through tier II bonds at a later stage.”
Expansion
On expansion, he said, the target is to reach a network of 3,000 branches and 1,800 ATMs network by March 2013. At present, we have 2,707 branches and 1,240 ATMs and have licence for 250 more branches.
The focus of expansion will be Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.
As part of restructuring to improve operational efficiency and customer focus, three more regions are to be carved out soon.
This will be in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.
Wherever there are more than 130 branches, it is proposed to create two regions. Currently, there are 38 regions, it will grow to 41 soon.
Similarly, to serve the needs of small and medium enterprises, mid corporate credit departments are to be created exclusively in one branch in each region. It will focus on providing credit above Rs 5 crore and drive the business.
Referring to diversified products, Anjaneya Prasad said the bank has identified eight mutual funds. We have signed agreements with four — HDFC, Reliance, IDBI and Birla.
Syndicate bank has tied up with IDBI Asset Management for distribution of their mutual fund products, to provide customers a wide range of investment options, other than the regular banking products.
On the retail loan front, the bank has seen a growth of 65 per cent during 2011-12. Housing, gold, auto and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) segment are the main drivers.