SBI plans a tie-up with post offices to expand rural reach
21 Aug 2007
New
Delhi: State Bank of India, the country''s biggest
lender, plans to partner with the with India Post to leverage
the expansive postal network for providing credit and
other services in rural areas.
This
was announced by finance minister, P Chidambaram, speaking
in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the SBI Amendment
Bill, which replaces an ordinance for transferring the
Reserve Bank''s stake in SBI to the Union Government.
The alliance will bring banking facilities to even the remotest villages. SBI''s 9000-strong branch network is already the largest in the country. If the branches of its seven associate banks were added to the tally, the total branch network would reach 13,000.
However,
these numbers look minuscule in comparison to India Post''s
network, which has over 1.5 lakh post offices, a majority
of which are in rural areas. Post offices in India already
offer a host of services such as savings, insurance, mutual
funds, pension and domestic as well as international money
transfer.