SBI to relocate 1,600 branches

Branch relocations will be governed by business potential and govt's financial inclusion agenda

State Bank of India will relocate 1,500-1,600 branches after April as part of a consolidation exercise.

Five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore — will merge with parent State Bank of India on April 1.

Rajnish Kumar, managing director, national banking group, State Bank of India, said the branch count would remain at 24,000 and the emphasis would be on  increasing the number of touchpoints and improving service quality. 

Branch relocations will be governed by business potential and the government’s financial inclusion agenda. 

The six banks now have branches near each other in various cities. Much of rationalisation is expected in the second half of 2017-18.

State Bank of India may add two new circles, Jaipur and Andhra Pradesh, to its national banking group to absorb branches of associate banks. The two national banking group, which looks after retail, micro and small enterprises, and rural banking, now operates through 14 circles.  

State Bank of India will offer employees of associate banks the option of joining the merged entity or accepting a voluntary retirement scheme. Employees opting for retirement are likely to be offered a maximum of 30 months’ pay.

Integration of human resources, systems and information technology will be based on prior work done for the transition.

Executives with the associate banks said postings would be governed by the group policy of placing people within a circle as far as possible.