Development Credit Bank enters T. Nadu

By Our Corporate Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 24. Development Credit Bank Ltd. (DCB), a leading private sector bank with headquarters in Mumbai, is making its entry in Tamil Nadu by opening its first branch in Chennai on March 25.

Addressing presspersons here today, Mr. Naushad I. Padamse, Chairman of the bank, said this would be the 54th branch and would offer a wide range of customer-friendly personal banking services. The branch equipped with state-of-the-art computer technology and facilities such as automated teller machine (ATM) would also focus on corporate and international banking, he said.

DCB started its operations in Mumbai, entered Gujarat and moved subsequently southward by opening branches in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu was a logical extension of this strategy, Mr. Padamsee said.

Originally it was a co-operative credit society set up in 1930s and one among the 400 societies converted to co-operative banks thereafter. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a Geneva based international development organisation, had played a guiding role in the bank's evolution since its inception and was a major shareholder along with 55,000 other small shareholders who were earlier members of the co-operative society.

The bank's capital was Rs. 16.61 crores with AKFED holding 13.8 per cent stake initially. AKFED, which had invested $5.5 million in the bank, was allotted additional shares by conversion of its investments recently. This resulted in an increase in its stake in the bank to 37 per cent. As on March 15, the bank's deposits stood at Rs. 3,186 crores and advances at Rs. 1,950 crores. In the half year ended September 30, 2000 the net profit was Rs. 16.02 crores and the bank hopes to end the year with a net profit of Rs. 32 crores.

The bank has developed a totally in-house banking software PowerBanker which has won the innovation award from Sybase of the U.S.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Business
Previous : Forex reserves cross $42 b
Next     : HDFC expects 50 p.c. growth in business