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Bank of Baroda

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:07:55 +0000

BANK OF BARODA – A LEGEND IN INDIAN BANKING INSTITUTIONS

Prior to independence from the British Rule, the ancient India was ruled by princely states, scattered over the width and breadth of the large Indian nation. The Maharajas of the inner States of colonial India contributed to the welfare of their respective regions as well as the Indian nation as a whole. Their vision and foresight in founding various financial, charitable, social and philanthropic organizations during their time is still cherished by any one going into the history of modern India and its achievements in every walk of life.

The Maharaja of Baroda, a princely state of British India, by name Sir Sayyajirao Gaekwad III, had the same vision in establishing a bank for servicing the public at large and the citizens of Baroda State, a Gujarathi population in particular. On 20th July 1908, Bank of Baroda was established under the rules of Companies Act 1897, in a small building at Baroda, by the Maharaja with a paid up capital of Rs.10 lakhs. The guidelines set by the Maharaja for the bank was to serve the people of the State of Baroda as well as the neighboring regions with money lending, saving, transmission and encouraging the development of arts, science, commerce and trade for the people.

Even during the worst financial disaster caused by the First World War, during the period 1913 to 1917, when as many as 87 banks closed their shutters, Bank of India survived the turbulence with its clear vision, ethical standards and financial prudence to grow from strength to strength. There were heroes to sustain the development of this bank to its present glory, from ordinary people as customers and the heirs of the Royal family of Baroda.

The success story of the Bank of Baroda is studded with many a leaps and strides it made in the International presence, apart from establishing branches all over the Indian nation, by acquisition of already popular banking entities, as also commencing new commercial banking establishments, in the unique Gujarathi style. During the years of 1908 to 2007 (and the century year being round the corner) Bank of Baroda’s growth owes to the excellence in rendering financial products and services to the national and international population. Countries beginning from America to Zambia, in the alphabetical order have been enjoying the services of Bank of Baroda as of today.

A brief statistics will reveal the magnitude of growth Bank of India has achieved today : fifth largest bank in India; total assets over 1,78,000 crore’s, number of offices and branches 2800; more than 1000 ATMs, notwithstanding affiliates, subsidiaries and delivery channels all over the world.

BARCLAYS BANK

admin — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:22:50 +0000

BARCLAYS BANK

Barclays is a legendary word in the financial world in Europe and America. Of late it is becoming a household name in the rest of the world – especially Asia and Africa and Latin America. It is the 18th largest firm in the world as regards assets, financial service provider and ranks 15th in the banking industry calculating market capitalization. In UK it is the third largest bank. The headquarters of the bank are in London.

The Barclays story unfolded in the murky streets of 17th century London. In 1690 John Freame and Thomas Gould set up their business as goldsmith bankers in Lombard Street, London. In 1736 James Barclay, the son-in-law of Freame became a partner. In 1864 a new building for the bank was built on Lombard Street. In 1896 a big stride was taken when Barclays teamed up with 19 different banking bodies to form a joint stock bank by the name of Barclay and Company Ltd. It branched off into 82 locations having a respectable deposit of 26 million pounds. The bank because of certain connections often came to be referred to as the Quaker Bank.

Meanwhile with each passing year more and more mergers took place. In 1925 Barclays Bank began international operations by merging with Colonial Bank, Anglo Egyptian Bank and National Bank of South Africa. In 1961 it opened its first computer branch on Drummond Street, London. The first credit card in UK was introduced by Barclays in 1966. In 1972 Barclays was the first bank to make use of television advertising.

Today UK it has innumerable branches on high streets and of late it has teamed up with Post Office Ltd to expand personal banking services in the field of secured or unsecured loans. Most of the Barclay Bank branches have round the clock ATM services where cards from other banks can be used without paying extra charges. Barclay is a part of the Global ATM Alliance.

From 2004 Barclays has been sponsoring the Premier League (football) as also the Churchill cup from 2006. From 1987 it has sponsored the Football League till 1993.

Recently Barclay is having hiccups and on 30th August 2007 it had to borrow $3.2 billion from Bank of England (standby facility). The Barclay explanation was that the loan was necessitated due to a computer technical mix up. Barclay has no liquidity problems and in fact is flushed with it. However during the first week of November the shares of Barclay dropped by 9% and for a short time trading was suspended. There were strong rumours that Barclay’s fate was connected to the sub-prime crisis in USA. The subsequent release of figures showed that the bank write-downs at $1.9 billion were much less than apprehended.

Barclays Bank entertains 27 million customers spread across 50 countries. More than 127,000 personnel keep the wheels of Barclay running. In the first half of 2007 a profit of 4.1 billion pounds was returned thanks to the unique position of Barclays in the financial world, its increasing global presence and its ever-innovative management and staff.

Banknet India

admin — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:41:29 +0000

Banknet India

The aim of BanknetIndia is to circulate information about everything related to banking and finance online. Its website is ranked among the first ranking 25 banking sites and is included in the top global 20 banking technology website. Visitors to the site can participate in and know about latest news and policy matters.

BanknetIndia is promoted and operated by experienced bankers with a focus on knowledge, in depth research, community activities and conferences. It has a special section on publication and reports all specifically related to banking. BanknetIndia submits customized papers to its clients. Its partners in this matter hail form IIM Ahmedabad and NMMIMS and other prominent business schools of India. IIM Ahmedabad together with BanknetIndia have set up a Think-Tank to make up to date the latest in IT and then to see to its applications in various systems of the Indian banking network.

The laurels for the success of BanknetIndia go to Anurag Khanna who is the Chairperson and Managing Director of Banknet group. He has had a long experience of Indian finances and all through his work has taken him to probe into matters related to business promotion, credit and international finance as well as corporate banking. He made his debut in banking as a probationary officer with the State Bank of India. He took advantage of this to overview the various sides to banking. He also became the head of Fuji Bank’s corporate finance to make the bank the first of its kind as regards joint ventures in India in 1997. He is also a part of Indian Chamber of Commerce’s Information Technological Committee and judge and advisor for ZDNet Asia Smart50 awards. The latter was part of a move to identify the 50 top ranking business houses in Asia who are utilizing IT to push ahead and expand. It is little wonder than that Khanna is the Chief Editor of BanknetIndia.com.

BannetIndia.com website is styled to meet multifarious queries and demands. Apart from the informative Homepage,’ About-us’ and Disclaimer as well as ‘Contact Us’, there are headings covering news, banking, finance, technology, BPO, Events and even a Book Store to be found at the click of the mouse. Banknet organizes the largest conferences of the banking industry in India. As part of Banknet Group it has current information about research and data materials related to banking. It organizes 3 conferences annually as well as limited seminars focusing on current issues. Among the conferences it organizes are CTO Summit and Payment Systems Conferences. It has plans to start tele-briefings and events outside the country. BanknetIndia is a common platform where personnel from various streams like finance, finance and technology can exchange views with representatives from the industrial sector.

The Banknet conferences have brought together more than hundred CEOs. CTOs and various heads of business, panelists and speakers from RBI, IIB, IDRBT, IIM, NMMIMS and prime foreign as well as co-operative banks, technology giants from all over the globe. More than 500 financial bodies and companies from 20 different countries attended these conferences. Nearly 100 IT companies and financial groups from as many as 11 countries have supported the conferences.

Centurion Bank Of Punjab

admin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:11:44 +0000

BANK OF PUNJAB

The Bank of Punjab made its debut in 1989 following The Bank of Punjab Act 1989. It became a scheduled bank from 1994. Since then it is in operation as a scheduled commercial banks having a network of 271 branches in the all the important trading centres of India.

It deals with all kinds of banking – deposits in INR, in foreign currencies, remittances as well as loans to business bodies, trading groups and the agricultural sector.

Under able guidance the Bank of Punjab has entered a new chapter in its history by tapping the hitherto hidden resources of the local economy. This has been done by encouraging savings and providing funds for profitable investments. There are attractive incentives for opening accounts and drawing in foreign accounts. The lending policy although cautious is positive.

The main pillar of the Bank of Punjab is its focus on agriculture – this being the backbone of the country’s economy. It has introduced the Kissan Dost Agriculture Finance Scheme to small farmers.

The main spotlight of the Bank of Punjab is on the customer and excellent service. The customer is given top priority. Next in line comes profitability to see to the interests of the stakeholders. The Bank goes all out to keep rolling and improving the wheels of successful investment. It is not just profits and figures but at the core of the endeavours is the importance given to the community. The activities of the Bank are geared to the welfare of the society. Bank of Punjab takes it on as a corporate social responsibility. The employees are like family members and they are encouraged with recognition as well as reward. Excellence and integrity are the key words to the activities of the bank. The bank respects its customers.

The Bank of Punjab has in its record books innumerable rewards for achievements. The Central Board of Revenue awarded the ‘Excellence Award’ for the bank’s contribution to wards the exchequer of the Government. Under the 15thBolan Excellence Awards the bank was marked as the Best Bank. For the performance of the Bank of Punjab in the agricultural zone the 3rd Kissan Awards 2006 recognized it as ‘Top Bank for Agricultural Loans ‘and’ Best Bank Crop Insurance. In 2005 it ranked 5th as the ‘Best Corporate Reward Award’ in the financial sector. The joint judges were The Institute of Chartered Accountant Pakistan’ and ‘Institute of Cost and Management Account Pakistan’. The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry honoured Bank of Punjab with the LCCI award.

In July 2005 the approval was given to the Centurion Bank and Bank of Punjab to merge – the ratio being 4:9. This means that for 4 shares of Bank of Punjab the shareholder would get 9 shares of the Centurion Bank. The combined entity would henceforth be known as The Centurion Bank of Punjab. The merger was activated due to considerations of common goal and area of operation. The formal merger took place after the nod being given by the shareholders and the approval of the RBI.

Andhra Bank

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:08:21 +0000

India was under the rule of the British Empire as a colonial country and was liberated as a democratic Republic in 1947. Banking in India, started under the British Rule from 1786. The banking industry suffered a lot till the beginning of the 20th century and only private individuals and communities were interested in starting banking operations to serve the people within territorial boundaries. The Reserve Bank of India was nationalized in the post Independence period and was empowered to control the banking operations with a view to boost Indian economy. In the later part of 20th Century, there was no looking back and India is emerging as a super power in all the strides including banking operations.

With this background, it would be worthwhile to analyze the foundation and growth of Andhra Bank. Dr. Bogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, an eminent personality in the social, economical and political fields of pre-Independent India founded Andhra Bank in November 1923 and this bank commenced its operations on 28th November 1923. The then paid up capital of this private bank was Rs.1.00 lakh and the authorized capital was Rs.10.00 lakhs.

Surviving the turbulent periods after the Second World War, when many banking enterprises closed their business in India, Andhra Bank sustained its financial activities and marched towards progress with the support of its customers. In 1949, when Reserve Bank of India took the regulation and control of all banks in India, Andhra Bank was also included. In 1956, linguistic division of States was promulgated and Andhra Pradesh with its headquarters at Hyderabad, which is also the headquarters of Andhra Bank, was established for the Telugu speaking people of India. The services of Andhra Bank gained momentum in the new born State of Andhra Pradesh. The nationalization of 14 important banks in India in the year 1969 saw to it that Andhra Bank is also a nationalized bank in India today.

In the fast growing Indian economy, Andhra Bank boasts of contributing a major share towards it and a pioneer in introducing “Credit Card” system. Today Andhra Bank has a clientele base of 1.30 crores transacting a total business of Rs.49,000 crores. Statistically, Andhra Bank operates in 21 States, 2 Union territories and has 1,179 branches. Apart from its own 354 ATMs, Andhra Bank has made sharing arrangements with other popular banks like SBI, HDFC, Indian Bank and UTI Bank to extend ATM Services to its customers through more than 9,000 ATMs in the country. The latest addition is Core Banking facility with the partnership of Hewlett-Packard (HP) India, facilitating its customers to get access on a 24 x 7 basis to the products and services of Andhra Bank from anywhere and anytime.