Syndicate Bank Not To Shift Hq To Bangalore

The top brass of Syndicate Bank have decided against shifting the headquarters of the bank from Manipal to Bangalore while earmarking Rs 1.5 crore to upgrade the communication network.

"In the age of information superhighways, head-office can be anywhere if communication systems are in place," said N K Thingalaya, chairman-cum-managing director of Syndicate Bank.

He told Business Standard, "Instead of creating a controversy over whether it is wise to shift the head office from Manipal to Bangalore or not, we have decided to spend funds to strengthen communication network." He was responding to a query on a status paper to be presented by the bank's management on the pros and cons of shifting the head-office to Bangalore to the board of directors. The board had earlier advised the chairman to accomplish the task keeping in view all aspects and also to improve the bank's relationship with the clientele base. According to Thingalaya, once the upgraded communication network is in place, most of the problems pertaining to operations will automatically get resolved.

Syndicate Bank proposes to hire a Hyderabad-based company to have its VSAT network in place. The bank may get all its major centres of operations connected to the Manipal head-office with VSAT, which would facilitate teleconferencing to clear proposals instantly. The bank has already launched a homepage on Internet and improved its communication network vastly, he added.

Using the liberalisation process, it has posted general managers in two most important centres--Delhi and Mumbai--and plans to have a general manager with powers to advance up to Rs 7 crore at his level to a client at Bangalore soon. Meanwhile, Thingalaya is planning to prepare the bank to take on the challenges of the 21st century. A meeting of the top management executives had a two-day brainstorming session recently to come up with a Vision 2000 plan, he said. According to Thingalaya, the bank may recruit at least 50 mid-management level officers drawn from various disciplines like computer, management, HRD, forex, investment banking.

In the recent past, the bank had lost many a bright officers to private banking and Thingalaya feels that "this brain-drain needs to be stopped or compensated by the private banks pinching personnel from PSU banks".