Indian Bank launches initiatives to strengthen efficiency

In February this year, the lender achieved IT integration of all the branches of erstwhile Allahabad Bank with itself.The foundation of the bank has been strongly laid while going through the change process.

State-owned Indian Bank on Thursday launched a slew of initiatives including new HR vision, chabot and smart offices to strengthen its efficiency.

These announcements were made on the completion of one year of amalgamation of erstwhile Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank. In February this year, the lender achieved IT integration of all the branches of erstwhile Allahabad Bank with itself.

''The foundation (of the bank) has been strongly laid while going through the change process. The bank is poised for better growth,'' its Managing Director and CEO Padmaja Chunduru.

She said the bank's primary focus is on customer service and satisfaction.

The lender's Executive Director V V Shenoy said the new HR vision aims to foster excellence through a journey of growth, individual development, and robust employee experience.

He said the bank has already identified high-level initiatives to be implemented over the next two-three years on the HR front.

''Going forward, the plan is to focus on leadership development and implementation of HR initiatives, policies and processes to enable the delivery of a commitment towards our employees,'' he said.

The lender has initiated a leadership development plan to build a leadership pipeline for the future, Shenoy added.

Its smart office is a complete green initiative which will assist in cost saving on printing and stationery, improved turnaround time (TAT) and increased productivity of employees, among others.

The bank, as an amalgamated entity, reported a standalone net profit of Rs 514 crore for the December 2020 quarter, against a net loss of Rs 1,739 crore in the year-ago period.

Its gross non-performing asset (NPA) improved to 9.04 per cent of gross advances in the October-December 2020 quarter, from 12.69 per cent a year ago. Net NPA came down to 2.35 per cent, from 4.22 per cent.