Allahabad Bank Plans To Appoint Consultants For It Projects

Allahabad Bank is planning to rope in the services of information technology consultant(s) to help it prepare a three-year road map to implement IT projects in the bank.

The mandate for the consultant will, among others, be to help the bank in implementing the Vasudevan Committee recommendations, which dealt with various issues pertaining to technology upgradation in the banking and financial sectors, prepare specifications for hardware and software, and assist it in technical and commercial evaluation of vendors' offers for products, sources said.

As part of Allahabad Bank's technology thrust, the consultant will also be required to assist in establishing web servers and providing Internet banking, telebanking, automated teller machines (ATMs) and corporate connectivity.

 

In addition, it will be required to set up an enterprise wise network with centralised and/ or distributed management to support ATMs, any branch banking, retail banking and call centre operations. The mandate will also include data warehousing/ data mining and developing EDP audit systems.

The consultant is expected to provide a technology architecture which will offer a technical framework within which all projects can be fitted to ensure inter-operability and consistency of processing.

The bank has utilised a loan of Rs 62.13 crore from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) as on March 31, 2001. It has 350 partial and 190 total mechanised branches and 25 ATMs. It has a total of 1,900 branches spread across the country.

Meanwhile, Allahabad Bank, whose aggregate business amounts to over Rs 30,000 crore, has drawn up plans to double the retail banking boutiques to 200, this fiscal.

The boutiques, which facilitate single window service and spot decision for customers, are aimed at pushing retail loans in the housing, car, personal and consumer loan segments. Total disbursement through these boutiques during 2000-01 amounted to Rs 412 crore, while interest income stood at Rs 46.36 crore.