Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Oct 26, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Oct 26, 2003 |
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Money & Banking
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Housing Finance Marketing - Strategy It's really a United (Bank) housing loan! Nilanjan Dey
Kolkata , Oct. 25 UNITED Bank of India, which is in the thick of an image overhaul exercise, has decided to favour married men who muster support from their spouses while applying for housing loans. If you are a housing loan applicant, your loan could actually cost more if your wife is not part of the deal. Make her a joint applicant, and you save a quarter per cent. A quarter per cent cut, subject to terms and conditions, may not be much per se but, as Mr Madhukar, CMD, puts it, it may well lead to substantial savings. "It is just a first step... it is also the bank's way of ensuring that our customers build better homes in more ways than one," he added. Further savings can result if clients take out insurance policies and hand over designated fixed income securities to the bank, which, like other banking institutions, is of the view that interest rates will continue to remain under pressure and that competition will increase among housing finance providers. The immediate reason appears to be the recent initiative taken by ABN Amro to offer competitive rates for housing loans. On its part, United Bank is trying to furnish what it calls are `transparent and scientific' products, devoid of upfront charges and hidden costs of any nature. It collectively sums up its proposals as `Unique Banking Ideas'. "These are proposals that lower costs for clients and increase our own business volumes," Mr Madhukar said, adding that prospective loan takers should check out the fine print when they see promotional schemes that sound attractive. It is now trying to reach out to more customers through a string of credit awareness camps, some of which have already been held at various locations in Kolkata, its headquarters. On Wednesday, for instance, it had credit sanction letters ready for about 80 clients at a South Kolkata location. Senior bank executives attended the meet. Five such recent meets - the bank focuses on the term `credit awareness' instead of names such as `credit delivery' - have resulted in loans of around Rs 60 crore. According to Mr Madhukar, "reaching out" is also becoming the bank's thrust. It has flagged off a programme aimed at recognising employees who perform well every year. The idea is to motivate various categories of employees and branches. The bank recently felicitated a group of select staffers, ones who achieved high standards of excellence in 2002-03. This was the second effort of its kind.
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