Page 7 - Banking Finance February 2022

BANK UPDATE

Goel takes charge as 'OSD' tiated the process with SLDE. This documentation process gets com-
helps our clients not only to minimise pleted. For completing the documen-
in PNB risk elements with a foolproof tation, the borrower needs to visit the
Punjab National Bank said Atul Kumar blockchain system, but also it optimises bank branch.
Goel has taken charge as an 'officer on working capital."
special duty', before taking over as its Execution of transactions on the SLDE The MSME borrowers also have the lib-
new MD and CEO next month. erty to choose their Federal Bank
platform addresses all historic issues branch while applying for the loan ap-
Pursuant to the Department of Finan- with paper-based trade transactions proval.
cial Services, Ministry of Finance, Gov- such as limited transparency, sluggish
ernment of India Notification dated speed of transfer of physical docu-
December 28, 2021, Atul Kumar Goel ments and lack of audit log. 'Public sector banks' prof-
has assumed office as Officer on Spe- itability improved post-
cial Duty in Punjab National Bank, with Federal Bank launches merger
effect from January 1, 2022, PNB said
in a regulatory filing. online lending platform The Finance Ministry informed the
Federal Bank has launched an online Rajya Sabha that, post-merger, the
Axix Bank issues LC on lending platform, federalinstaloans.com, profitability of public sector banks
to facilitate quick and hassle-free credit (PSBs) has improved. It also said that
Govt's SLDE platform growth in Currency in Circulation (CiC)
approvals of up to Rs. 50 lakh for Micro,
Axis Bank issued industry's first letter Small & Medium enterprises (MSMEs) decelerated sharply in November.
of credit (LC) on the Secured Logistics across India. In a written reply, Minister of State in
Document Exchange (SLDE), a govern- the Finance Ministry, Pankaj
ment-backed blockchain-enabled plat- The platform enables borrowers to Chaudhary, said that as per Reserve
form, in what could be a signal that the avail loans in less than 30 minutes digi-
regulator and the government are tally by uploading their income tax re- Bank of India (RBI) data, the profitabil-
adopting a positive stance on turns, bank account statement and ity of the PSBs that have amalgam-
blockchain technology though they are online verification of GST details, per ated/merged during the last five years
averse to cryptocurrencies. the private sector bank's statement. has improved on a consolidated basis.
For example, State Bank of India (SBI),
The deal involved ArcelorMittal Nippon The platform also uses algorithms to in which five associate banks of SBI
and the bank's client Lalit Pipes & Pipes read and analyse data points from vari- and Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged
Limited (LPPL). ous sources such as I-T returns, GST
data, bank statements, Credit Bureau, with effect from April 1, 2017, re-
The bank released an LC on behalf of corded a profit of over Rs. 20,000
capturing the borrower's basic details
LPPL, which required such a non- using analytics, said the statement. crore in FY 2020-21 as against a loss of
fundbased credit line for a business over Rs. 1,300 crore in FY 2016-17.
transaction with ArcelorMittal Nippon "Most importantly, clients can avail
Steel, India (AM/NS). The entire deal business loan approvals from the com- Similarly, Bank of Baroda, in which
was executed digitally on the platform. fort of their home without visiting the Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were amal-
bank's branches. gamated w.e.f. April 1, 2019, im-
In July last year, the commerce minis- proved from a loss of Rs. 8,339.27
try launched such a digital platform, Data entry by the client is kept mini-
which was primarily aimed at replac- mal, as majority of the details are auto crore in FY 2018-19 to a profit of Rs.
ing the manual process of generation, populated from the uploaded docu- 828.96 crore in FY 2020-21. Punjab
exchange and compliance of logistics ments, i.e., GST, ITR & Bank account National Bank, in which Oriental Bank
documents with a digitised and secure statements," the bank said. After a of Commerce and United Bank of In-
document exchange system. suitable product is identified for the dia were amalgamated w.e.f. April 1,
borrower in the platform, an in-prin- 2020, improved from a loss of Rs.
"Our bank is aiming to support our cli-
ents digitise their entire supply chain," ciple offer letter will be issued, the 8,310.93 crore in FY 2019-20 to a profit
said Vivek Gupta, head-wholesale bank- statement added. of Rs. 2,021.62 crore in FY 2020-21.
ing products at Axis Bank. "We just ini- Loan will be made available after the He also mentioned that the govern-

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