BoI to revamp 350 large city branches

Public sector lender Bank of India will revamp up to 350 key branches in metro and large cities to project these as “Branch of the Future” over the next 18 months to scale up the retail business.

Executive director N Sheshadri said its first pilot branch is already operational at Chembur, a Mumbai suburb. The bank will remodel 200 such branches in the next six to eight months.

The focus is on upgrading customer services to retail clients. Attracting the young by providing the latest communication devices at branches for transactions will top the agenda.

These branches will have a spacious customer lobby, self-service kiosks and a separate area for high net worth individuals, with dedicated relationship managers.

About 70 per cent of staff time will be spent in customer engagement. Staff engaged in customer relations will be designated as personal bankers, Sheshadri said.

Given network of 3,815 branches, the share of retail segment in total domestic loan book is small at about 11 per cent. Its retail loan book stood at Rs 18,004 crore at end of December 2001 while its gross domestic advances stood at Rs 1,63,325 crore. The home loans (Rs 8,575 crore), educational loans (2,168 crore) and auto loans (Rs 1, 7181 crore) are key components of retail portfolio.

Besides credit and deposits products bank would also push for financial products like mutual fund and insurance policies through remodelled branch.

It already has life insurance joint venture Star Dai-ichi Union Ltd. It recently signed a pact to pick up 51 per cent stake in Bharti Axa mutual funds. Both are expected to increase fee-based income through cross selling of products.