The Hindu Business Line : PSBs also chant marketing mantra, divert surplus staff

TAKING a cue from the private sector, public sector banks are eyeing marketing more seriously now. After years of waiting for the customer to come to them, officers from State-run banks now areactively seeking out business opportunities.

Much of the routine banking operations are now done through software, with banks moving to centralised operations and Core Banking Solution (CBS). Therefore, staff can be diverted for marketing, said banking officials.

State Bank of India has around 2,000 branches under CBS and plans to increase the number to 3,000 by March 2006. The bank is deploying surplus staff in cross-selling products of its insurance and mutual funds subsidiaries.

The Mumbai Circle recently trained 38 staff members to sell SBI Life Insurance policies. While the sales target was 1,000 policies in 30 days, it was achieved in 15 days.

While the clerical cadre will be used as outbound sales force, officers will be trained as relationship and personal banking officers, said an officer. The managerial level will provide specialists like agriculture officers.

Bank of India has brought 280 branches under CBS so far, and around 1,000 staff members have been deployed for marketing, said Mr P.P. Jain, General Manager, Retail Banking. The target is to implement CBS in 750 branches by June 2006.

Its marketing plans include focus on retail, SME and institutional credit"There is a need to `re-skill' the staff as it is a new activity for them. We also have to check their productivity," said a senior official at a State-run bank.

Union Bank of India, too, has re-deployed about 1,000 staff members for marketing after 640 branches were linked to the CBS network, said a senior official.

The focus is on marketing retail and third-party products and also services like online equity trading and commodity trading, which the bank plans to start, the official said.

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