Due to the corona-virus pandemic, the nation’s biggest lender, commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) is set to now establish a work-from-anywhere policy and with this move, it anticipates retaining Rs 1,000 crore
In conversation with shareholders at SBI’s 65th annual general meeting on July 14, 2020,Chairman Rajnish Kumar explained that the prominent effort going forward will aim at “cost reduction, rationalization and reskilling of the workforce, improving staff productivity and redeployment of the workforce from admin offices to sales roles.”
"Following global best practices, the bank will institute work from anywhere (WFA) infrastructure to facilitate work from any location, while taking care of social aspects of work-life balance.
The measure is expected to save Rs 1,000 crore through cost optimization and will be a key component of our business continuity during times of COVID-19," Kumar said.
As the pandemic due to coronavirus is still on the large, Financial Year 20-21 will be a difficult year for the bank like any other bank or financial institution, he expressed in the meeting. Fortunately, the bank is prepared to battle all the arising challenges.
He mentioned that the bank has increased its inspection of all the projects that are going to be implemented and the ones that are already in the process and also anticipate to tide over the virus’s impact in the short to medium term.
"Bank will maintain a constant vigil on the emerging stress and take proactive action to help our borrower customers and maintain asset quality," he observed.
The institution has recently established a detailed business continuity strategy. It has noted business continuity hub branches to serve to customers when required during an emergency and business continuity plan (BCP) sites have been recognized to aid the essential backend services.
With regards to those possibilities that have been created by the Atamanirbhar Bharat Package for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the bank has established a financial inclusion and micro-market vertical to gain value in micro-markets, with a cost-efficient business model, he told the shareholders.
"Cash flow-based lending models will be used, leading to efficient financing and help lower the delinquency," the chairman mentioned.
He further went on to say that the pandemic has brought to light the importance of contactless digital banking channels. The mobile banking app of the bank, SBI YONO has grown to a sizeable amount.
"The bank will further scale up YONO and has set a target of doubling user registrations in the next six months and further strengthening the platform through new product offerings like end to end home loans, pre-approved car loan, and personal gold loans," he expressed.
“A strong liability franchise with a customer base of over 44 crores, a diversified loan portfolio with strong capabilities to originate, digital leadership across channels are some of the key strengths that the bank will rely upon in the post-COVID scenario”, he further added.
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