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Santanu Sanyal

Mr V.P. Shetty

KOLKATA, Feb. 6

UCO Bank has finalised its technology road-map for the next three years. From the fiscal 2006-07, UCO Bank, according to its CMD, Mr V.P. Shetty, will be comparable to any techno-savvy bank of the day.

The highlights of the programme, as he pointed out, would include "developing a bank within the bank'' in that 200 branches accounting for the bulk of the bank's total business would have connectivity to serve the customers better. "These 200 branches among themselves will form a separate entity within UCO Bank,'' Mr Shetty said.

Also, the number of ATMs in major metros would be increased (from the present 16 to 66 by March this year and more subsequently) and alliances would be forged with private ATM operators for outsourcing the service on payment of transaction charges. "We propose to spend about Rs 200 crore in the next three years on technology upgradation,'' he said.

The traditional business, the CMD said, was unlikely to give UCO Bank the kind of yield and return it would like to have in the coming days.

"The days of armchair banking are over; in the scenario that is gradually unfolding before us, we will be required to offer a variety of non-traditional services to add to our earnings,'' he said.

The bank, he felt, had already lost precious time by not gearing itself up to cope with the changes that were taking place in the market place. One reason for this was perhaps the mindset of a large section of the employees. "Changing the mindset therefore is posing a major challenge before us,'' he observed.

"The segmentation of operation is also being actively considered by the UCO management," said Mr Shetty.

"There is no point having each branch offer all kinds of services; instead, specialised branches should concentrate on providing specialised services,'' he said. And towards achieving this objective, UCO Bank is planning to recruit people with specialised knowledge and expertise, such as computer professionals, qualified accountants and management experts.

"We plan campus recruitment from next year,'' he added.

The Government has allowed UCO Bank to recruit 750 professionals over the next three years. The first batch of 250 will be recruited shortly.

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