said the credit card business would be a separate department. "We are in the process of setting up everything. The new card is likely to be a Visa credit card," Chakrabarty said.
The bank also has plans to bring more people under the financial inclusion project through smart cards and mobile banking.
As part of its overseas expansion plans, PNB will open new branches in Shanghai and Norway and a subsidiary in Dubai during the next financial year.
"To bolster PNB's presence in the Indo-Gangetic plains and bring more financial inclusion in the rural areas, PNB is planning to take its entire range of services to the rural and semi-urban households through smart cards and mobile banking," he said.
Opening an account alone does not amount to financial inclusion, Chakrabarty said, as the entire branch operations are vital for customer satisfaction.
As part of PNB's financial inclusion plan, he said 13 pilot projects are being planned in the Indo-Gangetic plain. The bank has so far launched three pilot projects in Neemrana (Rajasthan), Patna (Bihar) and Saharanpur (UP).
So far, PNB has issued 15,000 smart cards and opened 11,000 accounts. Biometric-enabled technology is being used for the promotion of these projects.
The bank has chosen eight IT vendors, including TCS and HCL, to partner it in the smart card and IT ventures to connect with the rural and semi-urban customers.
"Opening many branches in rural areas might prove to be a costly proposition. Instead, the bank has decided to go in for mobile banking and the smart card system."
The bank has set a target of one million 'no frills' accounts by March 2008, and to cover 30,000 villages, 15 million households and 75 million people by 2010.
Speaking about the overseas expansion plan, Chakrabarty said that the bank recently received licence from the central bank to open a branch in Shanghai and is awaiting Chinese government's approval.
The bank is also awaiting RBI clearance to open branches in Canada and Norway.
"We need experience and expertise from the global market; this will give us a window to compete in the domestic market. Moreover, many of our customers are going global, and they would want to handhold PNB in overseas markets."
The overseas branches and subsidiary offices will handle money transfers, funding of Indian expat clients and corporates, Chakrabarty added.
