Public sector Vijaya Bank has cast the net for high net worth account holders even as it goes about mandatorily including the poor at the far end of business.
On Friday, it launched the first of its planned 24x7 HNI branches, branded Vijaya Samruddhi, in upscale Dollars Colony in north Bangalore.
Bank officials said it would soon take some of the services to the local customers’ doorsteps.
Next on the bank’s radar is GenNext, the public sector bank's chairman and managing director, Mr H.S. Upendra Kamath, told Business Line after the launch.
An HNI savings account must have a minimum balance of Rs 5 lakh. Premium account holders here enjoy personalised, smooth, queueless services.
The ‘lobby’ banking comes with an Internet kiosk, a passbook printer, drop boxes for cheques and cash, besides the ATM.
“We plan to start 20 HNI and GenNext branches across the country shortly. The youth-focussed outlets would have similar high-end and electronic features. For this, we are looking at IT campuses, Electronics City and areas that have a concentration of young employees from the IT sector,” he said.
According to Ms Shubhalakshmi Panse, executive director, HNIs formed a surprisingly big chunk – 48 per cent – of savings accounts with the bank. The exclusive branches would meet the special service needs of an important client category.
Mr Kamath said this was another step in the customer-friendly initiatives that banks were taking beyond regular banking, just as “we also have branches focussing on industrial finance, NRI, corporate banking, NPA recovery and urban micro-finance.”
Mr Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary, Karnataka Department of Commerce & Industry, cut the ribbon.
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