APGVB launches 50 branches in the State

Warangal: The Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) has achieved a unique feat on Monday.A The bank has launched 50 branches in eight districts across the State on a single day and it was considered the biggest ever initiative by any regional rural bank in the country. Of the 50 braches 34 branches were located in rural areas and 14 in semi-urban branches, informed APGVB Chairman K Lakshmana Rao. He further said that all the new branches were opened with core banking solutions (CBS) connectivity through V-sat installation that enables the customer of a particular branch to operate their accounts and to do transactions at any of the network banks.A As part of expansion programme the bank has opened 416 USBs (Ultra Small Branches) during the financial year 2012-13. Earlier this year, the bank has opened 14 new branches, taking the total number of branches opened during the fiscal year 2012-13 to 64, surpassing the target of 59 branches. The target was given by the Government of India and at present the total number of branches of the bank reached to 638, Lakshamana Rao said. The bank has also appointed Business Correspondent Agents (BCAs) in 1850 villages as part of its drive to reach out to unbanked people introducing bio-metric smart card system. As many as 17 Lakh accounts were opened for rural population in the above villages where smart cards issued and banking services extended including Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) payments, the chairman added. Currently the deposits of the bank stand at Rs 5,616 crore and advances at Rs 6,420 crore. The bank was prepared to achieve a business growth of about Rs 1500 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2013, the official said.