“Chennai personifies acceptability and adaptability,” R Varadarajan, managing director, Repco Bank, joyously said, but rued that he still misses the greenery the city once possessed. He cited the famous Woodlands drive-in hotel which stood out as a place that one wanted to frequent. Varadarajan pointed out that the city still houses several attractions that have helped keep tradition intact.
Speaking to City Express on the vision and objectives of Repco Bank, Varadarajan explained that since its inception, the bank focused on providing assistance to repatriates from Burma, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
“The very formation of Repco is one of its kind, where the four state governments of South India and the Central government joined hands to help achieve the core objective of the bank. I believe that’s special,” said Varadarajan.
Many institutions dole out financial support to repatriates but Repco, he believed, goes a step ahead in providing employment opportunities by empowering individuals of a profession.
“Till date, over 25,000 people have been empowered by and employed in tea plantations in Nilgiris. They are trained from the basics and are taught to be independent,” explained Varadarajan.
The Repco foundation is placed with the responsibility of identifying repatriates and organising training programmes for them. A mobile banking facility has been organised for the benefit of these workers to encourage them to deposit their earnings, which facilitates saving.
Varadarajan said that with the inception of the REPCO MSME, over three lakh individuals have benefitted all over the country.Varadarajan clarified that REPCO must be known as a customer centric bank with a special focus on customer relationship and management.
“Executive to customer relation is of prime importance, only then would a customer feel assured to invest in financial institutions,” he explained, adding that exemplary customer relations was what set Repco apart from others
“When someone makes use of the facility to save and the facility is being readily made available to them, that signifies transformation and I believe that’s what we do and are aiming to do in Repco,” he said.