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`Informers' to the loan-seeker's aid

Srikala B.

BANGALORE, June 20

IF you are looking for a housing loan, make sure that at least a couple of your friends hear of it. Chances are that they might just help you get the finances at your doorstep!

Corpbank Homes, the housing finance subsidiary of Corporation Bank, has decided to rope in ``business informers'' in its business plan. The company will have an informal tie-up with informers, who will tip the HFC about prospective borrowers.

``The job of these informers will be tip us off on people who are looking for housing loans or who are planning to shift their home loan accounts,'' says Mr. K. A. Kamath, Managing Director, Corpbank Homes. The company will try to convert these tips into loan accounts, depending on the credit worthiness of the borrower.

``Project informers,'' according to Mr. Kamath, will be cost-effective in the semi-urban areas as they will obviate the need to set up branches. Corphomes will begin the new experiment in Mysore and Bangalore and will extend it to other cities depending on the success of the experiment.

The task of identifying the informers has been left to the branch managers. The reward for the informers will be in the form of a commission.

Explaining the working of the campaign, he said the Mysore branch, for instance, would bank on the business acumen of its informers for getting accounts in smaller towns with business potential, such as Mandya and Coorg. The Bangalore branch, on the othe r hand, will cater to the needs of prospective customers on the outskirts of the city.

The board of Corphomes has approved the new experiment. The company will have its first batch of informers next month.

Corporation Bank's subsidiary has also decided to get more aggressive in its pricing and is planning to offer a single rate of 13.5 per cent interest on all its loan products. For old customers, the company is offering a one-time bonanza -- the opti on to convert old loans into new ones at the revised rates provided they agree to pay a one per cent fee on the outstanding loan amount.

``Some of our customers have borrowed at interest rates of around 15.5 per cent. We want them to benefit from the falling rates,'' says Mr. Kamath. The two-year-old company is willing to try out every new trick to improve its business!