KOCHI: Kerala Bank, which was created by merging 13 district cooperative banks (DCBs) in the state with Kerala State Co-operative Bank, has formed a new structure, even as the Covid restrictions slowed down the software integration of the DCBs considerably. It includes setting up of seven regional offices to handle businesses of two districts each.Kerala Bank CEO P S Rajan said under the new structure, the bank has set up seven regional offices — merging two DCBs each — while the headquarters remains in Thiruvananthapuram.
He said Thiruvananthapuram (along with Kollam) will be one regional office handling the businesses of two districts. Other regional offices are in Alappuzha (along with Pathanamthitta), Kottayam (along with Idukki), Thrissur (and Ernakulam), Palakkad (and Malappuram), Kozhikode (Wayanad) and Kannur (Kasaragod). The bank will also have credit processing centres in each district, which is empowered to sanction loans up to Rs 40 lakh. The corporate office is based in Kochi.
Software integration stuck
Meanwhile, the software integration and the establishment of UPI or the instant real-time payment system to facilitate inter-bank transactions on a mobile platform and the constitution of a new board of directors have been delayed as the government’s focus turned to Covid-related activities.Rajan, who was appointed the CEO of the new bank last November, said the Covid-induced lockdown has slowed down the integration of the district cooperative banks, and expressed the confidence that Malappuram DCB, the lone cooperative bank which has stayed off the merger plan, will join the Kerala Bank soon.
“We could not move forward on the payment service, the linking of UPI with Aadhaar, etc due to the software integration issues,” Rajan said.Rajan said the Central government’s decision to bring all urban and multi-state cooperative banks under the direct supervision of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will, however, have little impact on the Kerala Bank as the merged entity is already under the supervision of the banking regulator. “Right now, Kerala Bank is partly regulated by NABARD and partly by RBI. After the integration process gets completed, we will come directly under the RBI,” Rajan told TNIE.
He said the Kerala Bank is taking various steps to comply with RBI’s norms for banks such as new capital adequacy norms.As per the government data, the district cooperative banks have a total deposit base of `59,653.49 crore and another `12303.63 crore for the Kerala State Cooperative Bank. The State Level Bankers Committee has not combined the deposits yet.Rajan said Kerala Bank’s board is an interim board. “The government has to take a decision on the new permanent board,” he said, replying to a specific query. The bank is also in the tender process for appointing a new software vendor.
Covid-effect
The software integration and the establishment of UPI or the instant real-time payment system to facilitate inter-bank transactions on a mobile platform and the constitution of a new
board of directors have been delayed as the government’s focus turned to Covid-related activities.