Axis Bank Sees Odisha As Highly Potential
5 March, Bhubaneswar
Axis Bank has considered the eastern region of the country particularly Odisha to emerge as the leading destinations for SME and Retail Banking in next three years.
Axis Bank President – Treasury, Business Banking and Capital Sidharth Rath told newsmen here that the bank has strong presence in Odisha with network of 109 branches, 2Asset Service Centers, 431 ATMs and 16 Cash Deposit Machinesspread across 30 districts.
Over 69 per cent of these branches are located inunder-banked districts, as defined by RBI, he claimed. The bank, Rath said, has seen significant rise in business in Odisha with total deposits of Rs 8000 crore ofwhich the Savings Account deposits alone accounted to Rs6000 crore.
The SME portfolio, he said has grown by 24 per cent inEastern Region and 21 per cent in Odisha. The Bank, he saidhas also seen an average growth rate of 33 per cent involume of Outward Remittance through internet banking inEastern region.
Rath said the Bank is a front-runner in serving morethan 14 million customers. The business model focuses inbuilding relationship and nurturing the entrepreneurialtalent available.
He claimed that the Axis Bank was the first bank tointroduce Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through mobilechannel in Odisha. The bank also has 10 customer service points to cater tovillagers residing in remote locations in the state. The bank has considerably expanded its branch footprintin eastern India by opening more than 35 branches last yearin unbanked centers.
he Axis Bank Foundation, Rath said has proposed tocover at least ten lakh people in providing sustainable livlihood in the next three years in the state. Presently, the bank is running 11 Sustainable Livelihoodprogram in Odisha benefitting close to four lakh people infive years and three Educational programme benefitting over5000 people in one year.
The bank, he said has seen positive participation inprograms like ‘Abha’, which has helped creating sustainablelivelihood for 25000 women in two districts across fiveyears and ‘People’s Rural Education Movement (PREM)’, whichhas helped creating sustainable livelihood for over 10,000youth and women in five years