Concessional loans, free ATM cards, credit cards
Our Bureau: hindubusinessline
New Delhi, May 31 State Bank of India has launched a new product – ‘Defence Salary Package – Army’ – that offers a bundle of free/concessional banking services to the officers and jawans of the Indian Army.
This product offering, which has already undergone a pilot run in three cantonments, includes concessional loans, free drafts, free cheque books, free fund transfer to the State Bank Group’s network of 15,000 branches besides free ATM cards, the SBI Chairman, Mr O.P. Bhatt, said here on Friday.
“Defence salary package is a gift wrapped with love from SBI employees to the Army,” Mr Bhatt said at the launch function for this new product. The Chief of Army Staff, Gen Deepak Kapoor, was present on the occasion. Mr Bhatt also said that the bank was looking at a new loan product to help jawans purchase two-wheelers by availing themselves of loans at concessional interest rates. SBI would also provide home, auto and personal loans to Army personnel at 25 basis points lower than floor rate. Also on the anvil is a SBI credit card tailor made for the armed forces.
This Defence Salary Package initiative would benefit many jawans and senior personnel of the Indian army who are posted in far-flung areas of the country and could not hitherto get good banking facilities. Once this product is rolled out to the entire army network, SBI will get about 12 lakh customers within its fold.
The Army is also at present undergoing a pilot project with the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) to convert its current cash system into a monthly salary payment system through bank accounts. The project includes a complete computerisation of salary records which are being maintained manually. Currently, the salary of personnel below officers rank (PBOR) of the army is paid on the “acquittance roll system” by which only their monthly requirement is paid to them in cash and the rest accumulates with the Government, usually until retirement.
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