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THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
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23.10.07
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| Indian Bank targets youth to look young |
Indian Bank which recorded a net profit of Rs 247.6 crore for the
second quarter is now looking to strengthen its agriculture,
retail loan and educational loan business. "We are now looking
at providing loans for contract farming," said MS Sundara Rajan,
chairman and managing director, Indian Bank. The adjusted net
bank credit towards agriculture for the year ended March 2007
was 21% which was higher than the RBI's stipulation of 18% of
net bank credit by banks towards agriculture.
Indian Bank also wants to get 'younger' and is targeting kids
in a big way. It launched a saving account product for children
in August this year and hopes to have one lakh accounts by mid
November in this category.
For the young couples, Indian Bank will soon roll out a travel
loan product. The repayments can be made in EMIs (equated monthly
instalments). "With rising dispos able income, middle class
is wanting to go out and explore new destinations," he said.
Work is also on other loan and deposit products which are expected
to be launched soon.
However, it is the educational loan business about which the
bank is extremely bullish. For the half year ended September
30, Indian Bank provided a sum of Rs 230.11 crore assistance
to 16,466 students. This figure is set to rise in the future
as students are increasingly opting for professional courses
like engineering, medical and management. And with rising salaries,
repayment is almost sure shot. Indian Bank is also in talks
with a top management institute for providing educational loans
to its students. Moreover, `Quit India' is gathering momentum
with students now going to the UK and Australia apart from the
US to pursue higher education. Indian Bank is catering to this
segment as well.
Youngsters apart, the bank is targeting senior citizens too.
It has launched a reverse mort gage product keeping in mind
the changing sociological conditions. While conducting a research,
the bank found that many urban retirees had not adequately planned
for their future.
"In Tamil Nadu alone, 97% of seniors don't plan for their future,"
said Sundara Rajan.
"With increasing longevity, post retirement life is set to be
longer than past active life", he added. And with nuclear families
becoming the norm, senior citizens need some form of financial
security.
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