SMCB to merge with Shamrao Vitthal

Kolhapur-based Shree Mahaveer Co-operative Bank (SMCB) is waiting for its merger into the Mumbai-based Shamrao Vitthal Co-operative Bank (SVCB).

SMCB has 25,251 members and while deposits are Rs 30 crore total loans stand at Rs 12 crore.

It has a network of eleven branches, 10 in the Kolhapur district and one in the Sangli district.

When the bank faced a net loss of Rs 92 lakh, the RBI restricted its operations. But the bank is functioning says CEO D B Patil.

But RBI's insistence on computerisation and core banking facility may make survival of the bank difficult as the investment is too high.

The merger scheduled on September 4 would be ultimately in the interests of bank's members and employees.

After the merger, the SVCB would get network of SMCB's branches in the southern Maharashtra with the staff of 83 employees including 14 officers.

As the SVCB is computerised and is linked with wider network in Mumbai and other commercially developed centres, the SMCB's members and clients would get better facilities and services.