Punjab National Bank (PNB) is planning to set up 400 automated teller machines (ATMs) and has earmarked Rs 150 crore for computerisation of its branches.
"About 250 of these ATMs will be offsite, while rest will be alongside PNB branches, especially the larger ones," said a senior PNB official.
The bank, which plans to network 2,000 branches as part of its centralised banking solutions project in three years, will link up 300 branches by March 2003.
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"We will connect 500 branches by December next year. We have already introduced tele-banking in 100 branches while remote access facilities have been recently opened in 50 sites," the bank's chairman and managing director, S S Kohli, said.
PNB is also starting a computer training institute in Lucknow which will provide training not just to its own staff but also to the staff of other banks.
Kohli said PNB is also set to launch an international debit card by end of this calendar year even as it gears up to push its credit card, co-branded with HSBC.
We have a target to disburse about Rs 3,000 crore as retail loans during this fiscal and emphasis will be on educational loans to a large number of students which also a part of our efforts to provide better services," he added.
Meanwhile, Punjab National Bank is intensifying its sticky assets recovery drive, after having issued notices to about 500 defaulters across the country.
It intends to send notices to another 500 defaulters in the next three months as part of its move to better performance.
The bank, which had witnessed a growth of 21.3 percent in its net profit in the last fiscal, recorded a 19.9 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter of this fiscal year.
The bank also has witnessed a 32.3 percent growth in its gross profit in the first quarter of this fiscal year, while net credit of the bank at the end of June, 2002, stood at Rs 35,381 crore registering a growth of 22.4 percent YOY.
Aggregate deposits of the bank at the end of first quarter, amounted to Rs 63,987 crore as compared with Rs 56143 crore during June 2001.
"We are hoping for a better performance at the end of this fiscal year in every aspect of the bank. We are determined to bring down non-performing assets (NPAs) through intensive drives and recovery camps across the country," Kohli said on Monday.
"The ratio of net NPAs to net advances as on March 31, 2002 declined to 5.32 per cent from 6.69 per cent during previous year. So far we have issued notices only to the major defaulters and gradually notices also will be issued to the smaller ones which, we hope, will help us to recover huge sums," Kohli said.