In the run up to the merger of United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce with Punjab National Bank , the latter has set up working groups for 23 functional areas, including products, processes, human resources, credit and bad loans, with participation of top officials from the three banks.

This is aimed at streamlining the amalgamation.

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Sunil Mehta, MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank, said the merger is not only a legal merger but also a one in terms of technology, products and services, common services, etc.

“We will create an organisational structure where we don’t have to lose manpower. We capitalise on them and we are able to create new verticals (such as marketing), which is a win-win situation, creating value to the organisation and gains for the customers,” explained Mehta on the sidelines of the Indian Banks’ Association’s 72nd annual general meeting.

The PNB chief said the amalgamation issues are being deliberated by the respective boards of the three banks. PNB’s board has already given an in-principle approval for the amalgamation. The bank is working out a detailed amalagamation plan.

Mehta said all the three banks are on equal footing. Employees are going to gain out of it because the best of the facilities available in each of these banks will be made available to the employees of the unified entity. Another advantage is that there will be no retrenchment of staff. Further, there will be synergies between the three banks.

“For example, OBC has got good systems and processes. They have got a very good overlapping presence with PNB. So, we can take a lot of advantage of the synergies. We can optimise on our resources and create more value for the our stakeholders.

“United Bank of India has very good CASA (current account, savings account) deposits at 51 per cent of total deposits, which is highest in the industry. We do not have much presence in the Eastern and North-Eastern parts. There United Bank has got a very good presence. These synergies will definitely benefit the amalgamated entity,” said Mehta.

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