SBH achieves 100 pc computerisation

State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) has become one of the few public sector banks to have achieved 100 per cent computerisation of branches. The bank has 902 branches, a majority of them within the state and a few outside.

SBH managing director A G Kalmankar said here today that the bank had earmarked a total budget of Rs 350 crore for the technology initiative and so far spent Rs 120 crore in the last one-and-half-a-years.

SBH currently has 80 ATMs installed in different locations, and is planning to increase this number to 250 by March 2004. The bank expects to implement the core banking solution next year to offer anytime anywhere banking.

Kalmankar said that by the end of November 2003, the bank had achieved a total business of Rs 31,500 crore which included Rs 20,782 crore deposits and Rs 10,803 crore advances. The gross NPAs were at Rs 850 crore (7.8 per cent) and net NPAs at Rs 290 crore (2.68 pc).

The bank registered an operating profit of Rs 418 crore for the half-year ended September. Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.07 per cent for the same period.

Chandan Bhattacharya, the SBI managing director, said all the seven associate banks of SBI would achieve full computerisation in the next few weeks. "At least four of our associate banks will have less than 1 per cent NPAs by March 2004 while the parent bank (SBI) is expected to lower its NPAs to below two per cent level by March 2005," he added.