Punjab National Bank (PNB), which has been facing a lot of turbulence since January this year, will bounce back in six months, a top official has said.

This public sector lender has in the past few months been actively working towards improving internal systems by incorporating analytics and AI for reconciliation of accounts, Sunil Mehta, Managing Director & CEO, PNB, said at the bank’s head office in Dwarka.

It may be recalled that diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi-led firms had perpetrated a ₹12,700-crore fraud on PNB and the fraud had come to light in January this year.

Mehta said that PNB, with the help of third-party analytics, will get access to contact information of PNB defaulters who have good credit record with other lenders. All efforts are being made taken to identify and automate profitable lending strategies and minimise credit and fraud risk.

The bank has strengthened the process of underwriting of credit to wean out any possibility of fraudulent behaviour and ensure fair evaluation, said Mehta.

He said that the internal audit process has been augmented to give higher weightage to the off-site monitoring mechanism. The analysis from the off-site monitoring mechanism will reduce dependence on physical inspection and audit to identify risks, and the detachment between the front office and off-line monitoring system will drive greater transparency in reporting.

Meanwhile, Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, said: “My message to (PNB) is to stay determined, recognise gaps, recapitalise, resolve and reform.”

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