Syndicate Bank is aggressive about North Coastal Andhra and is planning to open a number of specialised branches in the region, including agriculture, MSME and personal banking, according to bank’s Executive Director Anjaneya Prasad.
The bank has been a late starter in the region and has very limited presence. The number of branches in the port city would go up to 10 by the end of this fiscal. The four districts together have 28 branches and the plan was to take it to 30. There were 411 branches in the State and the bank intends to increase it 500-600, he said.
Business potential
Recalling his days of studying and working in the city, he said he was aware of the high business potential of the region. Given the high business potential in this area coupled with the fact that the recovery rate was also very high, the bank appointed an Assistant General Manager for business development here, he said.
The bank intends to form a special MSME branch in Gajuwaka area and was also exploring creating an agri-specific branch in Madhurawada, the Executive Director said. The bank intends to work within the existing licence of a general branch for now.
The e-Lounge of the bank in Bengaluru stabilised and the bank was exploring opening such a 24x7 branch for the modern day professionals and working class in the State and was also looking at the city for it. The e-Lounge or SyndYuva NextGen branch would have facilities like internet banking, mobile banking, cheque deposit kiosks, coin dispensing facilities, and an ATM.
While an exclusive branch for the high net worth individuals would be a success in the city, he said the bank would need to explore the location of the branch and other associated logistics before taking a decision on it.
As a part of strengthening its IT-enabled network, the bank was setting up a back office centre for each state. The back office would take care of all the documentation processes across the State and the bank was keen on setting up such an operation in the city as it was likely to be cost effective, he said.
The bank was also willing to extend loans to enterprises for setting up small size captive power plants using the renewable and non-conventional sources like solar and wind.
With no major recruitment in the recent times, the bank was facing a HR challenge. In the last two years, the bank has not been able to attract enough numbers for its officer vacancies, however, the clerical vacancies were almost filled, Mr. Prasad said.
