Banks usually want to catch their customers young. But a small Mumbai-based bank wants to catch them old!

With 30 per cent of its total fixed deposits (of about Rs 800 crore) being held by senior citizens, the Greater Bombay Co-operative Bank is finding wooing those in their golden years a good bet.

Taking the seniors – customers as well as non-customers — on day-long picnics once in a while, organising cultural events at branches after business hours or on bank holidays are among the few initiatives that the bank has taken up to actively engage the golden-agers.

Without spoiling the fun element in the aforementioned activities, the bank slips in a short ‘how to manage your money' session in association with the mutual funds (with whom it has a distribution tie-up).

“We don't take the seniors on outings with the expectation that they will become our customers. We don't expect a senior citizen to transfer all his lifetime savings with a public sector bank to us. If any business does come our way, it is only incidental,” said B.V.R. Sarma, CEO.

Given the increased life expectancy of the seniors and their desire to leave behind a corpus fund for their children and grandchildren, the bank makes them aware of the various savings/investment options available to them.

“Due to the disintegration of the joint family system, many senior citizens are leading lonely lives. So, when they visit our branches we try to make them feel important and wanted,” said Sarma.

To ensure that the seniors get priority treatment, each of Greater Bank's 22 branches have a special counter open for two hours everyday to cater exclusively to their transaction requirements.

“Unlike the high street banks, for co-operative banks the aam aadmi class of customers are not mere account numbers. These customers are the very reason for our existence. For us a customer's welfare is as important as his money is,” said the chief of the Mumbai-headquartered co-operative bank.

Customer relationship executives at each of the bank's branches are required to come up with themes at regular intervals to engage customers – the old, the middle-aged, and the young.

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