SBI says yes to 'work from anywhere' for its employees
State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender will institute work from anywhere policy to facilitate its staff to work from any location. The bank expects to save Rs 1,000 crore from this measure. Speaking to shareholders at the bank's 65th annual general meeting on Tuesday, Chairman Rajnish Kumar said the focus going forward will be on cost reduction, rationalization and reskilling of workforce, improving staff productivity and redeployment of workforce from admin offices to sales roles.
Kumar said the measure is expected to save Rs 1,000 crore through cost optimization and will be a key component of the continuity of the business during COVID-19. As the COVID-19 pandemic is still playing out, FY21 will be a challenging year for the bank like any other bank or financial institution, he said. "The bank is well prepared to deal with such challenges."
He said the lender has stepped up its monitoring of all the projects under implementation and expects to tide over COVID-19 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 noted.
It has identified business continuity hub branches to cater to customers in case of emergency and business continuity plan (BCP) sites have been identified to support essential backend services.
In line with opportunities created by the Atamanirbhar Bharat Package for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the bank has set up a financial inclusion and micro market vertical to derive value in micro markets, with a cost-efficient business model, he informed shareholders.
"Cash flow-based lending models will be used, leading to efficient financing and help lower the delinquency," the chairman said.
The mobile banking app of the bank, SBI YONO has already achieved sizeable growth. He said 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.
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 added.
(With PTI inputs)
