Indian Bank to open 500 'banking kiosks'

Kochi, Aug 29: In line with its objective of being a common man's bank, Chennai-based Indian Bank is planning to open 500 'banking kiosks' in villages this year to bring banking services virtually to the doorstep of rural people, bank CMD M S Sundara Rajan said today.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Sundara Rajan said the bank had opened the first such kiosk in Puducherry and had now applied for RBI approval to open more such kiosks in different parts of the country.

These internet-enabled kiosks would be set up in busy local areas such as marketplaces to enable people to utilise their services without too much effort.

He said the bank was also planning to open ten branches exclusively to provide micro-credit services.

Indian Bank, which is celebrating its centenary this year, had seen net profit grow by 28.65 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year while total business grew by Rs 13,591 crore to Rs 78,879 crore.

The bank was targeting a 20 per cent increase in deposits and 25 per cent hike in advances this year, he said.

In other initiatives to provide easy credit to the rural poor, Indian Bank had covered 770 villags under the 'Financial Inclusion' project. While this had been successfully implemented in Puducherry district, it had been extended to Cuddalore and 12 other lead districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra pradesh and Kerala, he said.

The bank had also started the practice of nil balance accounts which also provided credit facility to the poor. It had also forged a tie-up with German toolmaking company Bosch to give Rs one lakh in loans to artisans and workmen like carpenters, plumbers and electricians to upgrade their equipment and machines.

UNI