The Hindu Business Line : SBT on deposit mobilisation drive

AS part of its growth strategy, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) is working on a resource mobilisation initiative to get deposits from local institutions in the Government and private sector, said Mr O.P. Bhatt, Managing Director, SBT.

Bank deposits in Kerala have largely depended on non-resident Indians (NRIs), he explained. "Therefore, traditionally, banks in Kerala have not reached beyond NRIs," he added.

Hence resource mobilisation is a challenge for the bank, which is now working on attracting institutional depositors such as Government organisations and private businesses, he pointed out. Simultaneously, the bank is also working on broad-basing its savings bank account scheme by getting salary account from corporates, Mr Bhatt said.

The bank is also shifting its focus to retail lending, and is creating credit products for different segments of economic activity, he said. The thrust is on State and sector-specific packages, he emphasised. So, for instance,

SBT has already developed schemes tailored to meet the requirements of groups such as jewellers, the tourism sector and traders.

Whenever the bank gets feedback that a particular segment of economic activity has some discomfort within the traditional parameters of banking, it steps in and attempts to make a product for this group, he added.

According to Mr Bhatt, the bank is also looking at cross selling financial products such as credit cards, insurance and mutual funds to boost its growth.

It already sells products for associate companies such as SBI Life Insurance, SBI Credit Cards and SBI Mutual Fund, and also for United India Insurance, he pointed out.

However, the bank is looking at cross selling more such products and is trying to make this into a major activity, he added.

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