State Bank opens forex division at city’s SME branch

MANGALURU: State Bank of India (SBI) set up a foreign exchange division at its SME branch, Kodialbail, on Monday.
Acting on a demand made by the branch customers at a meet organized for them six months ago, SBI's top brass headed by Nandini Rodricks, general manager, network II, Bengaluru, has got requisite permission to start the forex division - 30th in the state.
This division hitherto was available for bank's customers only at its main branch here.
Inaugurating the forex division, Nandini said that the banks have moved on to the concept of universal banking post liberalization. Admitting that the bank is a trifle too late to have started a forex division at the SME branch here, Nandini said the banking is assiduously moving towards tier system banking in the near future.
"We are looking at areas such as infrastructure and payment banking as part of niche banking needs of our clients and ushering in globalization for them," she said.
Reminding those in the SME sector that the bank has 192 representative offices in 36 countries across the world, she said the bank has more than 400 correspondents giving them a wide range of choice as far as carrying out their import-export business is concerned.
"With this wide network, SBI is in a position to meet needs of SMEs with their documentation for import or export of goods to any part of the world besides offering them forex services, she said.
The bank also handed over Vishwa Yatra Cards to Vinod Bondal, MD, Konkan Specialty Poly Products Pvt Ltd, Ahmed Mohiuddin, MD, Delta Infralogistics World Wide Ltd, and Prakash Shetty, managing partner, Coastal Farms, were present on this occasion.
Nandini also handed over the papers of EEFC account to Vivek Bondal, executive director of Konkan Specialty. Chellappa Rangachary, deputy general manager, Bengaluru Zone II, and Khadri Gundu Rao, regional manager, were present.