UBI ties up with India Post to increase its penetration in Mah

Mumbai, Mar 1 (UNI) With a view to increase its penetration in rural Maharashtra, the Union Bank of India (UBI) today reached a Memorandum of Understanding with Maharashtra Postal Circle for marketing its priority sector loan products within the State.

Briefing the media after signing the MoU, bank CMD M V Nair said ''Though we've got 80 branches in rural areas and 32 in semi-urban areas in the State, we've chosen only 56 of them for the pilot phase. And depending on its success, we'll include all the remaining branches in the project.'' He hoped that this arrangement will help his bank generate revenue in forms of loans to the tune of Rs 100 crore within one year of its implementation.

Initially 56 rural branches of the bank have been roped in for the job falling under six districts namely Jalgaon, Nasihk, Hingoli, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Pune.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal Chief Post Master General of Maharashtra Circle K Noorjehan said ''We've already got such tie ups with other banks like Oriental Bank of Commerce and ICICI Bank. With the tie up with UBI we hope to achieve our goal of social development at high speed.'' Initially, we've roped in 150 post offices located in the rural parts of the State, she said.

Regarding the recovery of bank loans she said operational details were being worked out.

Under the tie-up, the post offices will identify prospective borrowers, help them choose the appropriate scheme/product of the bank and give them adequate information of the product chosen by them. Moreover, the post offices will assist the villagers in filling up the application forms for getting the required loans. On its part, the bank will arrange for training the postal staff through the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.

UNI