The Hindu Business Line : City Union Bank keen to maintain identity

KUMBAKONAM-BASED City Union Bank is intent on maintaining its identity. Its Chairman, Mr V. Narayanan, has categorically stated that the bank was neither looking for acquisition nor was being acquired.

He told Business Line, "Be it an old-generation bank in the private sector or a nationalised bank, each one of us have a place to play. We have a market that has, over the years, expanded both geographically and in size. Despite the presence of new players in the banking space, our business volumes have grown significantly. There is still enormous potential for growth." Stating that the bank had been catering to traders' needs for decades now, he said, "Only recently have other banks ventured into this area. Our growth is actually doubling every third year." "We have just begun the interconnecting exercise. All the 225-odd branches of the bank will be interconnected within the next two years to offer the anywhere-anytime facility to our customers. We have tied up with TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) for developing IT solutions," the Chairman said.

On recruitment, Mr Narayanan said "We are comfortable. We are not looking for specialised staff, except may be engineers for handling the technology.

The core banking solution that the bank envisages to offer within the next two years would not result in sizing down the numbers nor would the bank look at sourcing candidates from B-Schools, Mr Narayanan said.