LVB keen on entering mortgage business

Chennai, Feb4 (PTI): Private sector Lakshmi Vilas Bankis keen on entering the mortgage business, a top official saidhere today.

"We are very keen to enter the mortgage business.At themoment we are looking in changing our corporate look.

Definitely, we will look into mortgage business sometime laterthis year..", Lakshmi Vilas Bank Managing Director and CEO P RSomasundaram told reporters here.

Besides, he said the company with the present marketconditions would not look for an aggressive market growth.

"We were successful in the last six months.. But, I donot want to take any undue risk.." he said.

Commenting about their plans for looking at a qualifiedinstitutional placement (QIP) to raise capital to fundgrowth, he said they would take a decision in another twomonths.

"We have taken up a 40 per cent dilution in August lastyear. But we have to look at the markets.. We are also talkingto investors... We will take a decision in the next couple ofmonths..", he said.

Somasundaram and senior bank officials were here toannounce the launch of Interbank Mobile Payment Serviceenabling customers to do "fund" transfer using mobile phones.

According to him, LVB was the first private sector bank inSouth India to offer this facility.

The bank has tied-up with National Payments Corporationof India (NPCI) for offering this service in which the latterwould be paid Rs 0.25 paise per transaction, NPCI ChiefOperating Officer M Balakrishnan said.

According to him, this facility is available in any ofthe 274 branches of the bank and would enable customers totransfer the funds "at ease".

Besides Lakshmi Vilas Bank, NPCI would offer this serviceto 25 banks by April end, he said.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank currently has 1.6 million accounts andhas 2,675 employees in India.