OIC sees any branch banking by '07

The OIC alliance, a consortium comprising Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Bank and Corporation Bank, will take its first step towards any branch banking for their customers in 2007.

The three banks, which have payment products high on their agenda, would initially start providing services such as issue and paying of demand drafts at any of the three banks' branches.

The other priorities for the alliance are getting a foreign partner for their proposed credit card venture, establishing one-stop financial shop in three to four centres involving one-two branches of each of the three banks and entering into an arrangement with a common equity brokerage house and a common depository for providing demat accounts.

"We have already made operational use of 2,000 ATMs of the three banks for customers. Paper-based payment services such as demand drafts being paid and issued across alliance branches would be lunched by the first week of January," said a spokesperson of the alliance.

"We are trying to make use of ATMs free of cost, like it would be for use of any branch banking facility across the networks of the three bank," he said.

The alliance has identified 50 branches each of the three banks for launching any-branch paper-based payments services.

"The branches have been identified in a manner where there is no overlapping. For example, Oriental Bank's branches in the north have been chosen as they have greater presence there and most Indian Bank branches in the south given its concentration in the region," said chairman of Indian Bank, K C Chakraborty, said.

The alliance plans to add more branches to the any branch banking facility in phases. After about two weeks of launching the first phase, another 50 branches each would be added and try and cover all the OIC branches over a three-four month period.

"We are preparing the branches for this launch. We are currently exchanging authorised signatures, getting accustomed to accounting systems," the spokesman said.

The alliance has already established business syndication cells in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. The troika would initially start working on origination of fund raising mandates and thereafter also devise a common format for appraisal.