Nearly 25 per cent of Union Bank of India's branches, which will be opened during the current financial year, will be financial inclusion (FI) branches.
The bank is planning to open 400 branches during the fiscal. Of them, 100 branches will be financial inclusion branches, according to Mr M.V. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Union Bank of India.
In an interaction with presspersons on the sidelines of the inauguration of the bank's Mallikatta branch in Mangalore on Wednesday, he said that these 100 branches will be opened first.
The reason for opening FI branch is that this will give a support system to business correspondents who are extending the banking services in the un-banked areas.
The number FI branches will be increased to 300 by 2012-13, he said. The total number of branches of the bank stood at 3016 at the end of June 30.
The total number of ATMs will be increased to 5,000 by the end of this fiscal.
Overseas operations
Mr Nair said that the bank has a branch in Hong Kong. It has got approval from RBI for opening branches in Sydney, Dubai International Financial Centre, Belgium and one subsidiary in the UK.
The bank is in the process of getting approvals from the authorities in the respective countries, he said.
Cashless banking
On the other initiatives of the bank, Mr Nair said that it has come out with ‘cashless campus' project.
Under this, students or their guardians can make payments through the payment gateway of Union Bank of India, using their credit or debit cards. Students can also use mobile banking service to make all payments inside the campus.
The bank is planning to introduce ‘cashless banking' project in two educational institutions in Bangalore and one in Mangalore, he added.