State Bank of India to start Internet banking

Calcutta, India Feb 1 (Asia Pulse) - India's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India, will start Internet banking and e-commerce within the next few months and has drawn up an ambitious information technology upgrading programme to meet the requirements.

The bank has identified select branches to start Internet banking by July this year and the number of branches will be increased in a phased manner, chairman, GG Vaidya said. He said all the NRI branches would offer Internet banking services initially while the bank planned to launch a few more new products in the next few years. He said the bank had invested Rs4 billion (US$91.78 million) to develop and upgrade its information technology and the plan was expected to be ready within the next six months.

"The technology plan will improve the road map of the bank's Information Techonology strategy over the next 10 years. We are looking forward to have the plan ready within six months," Vaidya said. He noted that the bank had short listed two of the seven international consultants for developing the plan and overseeing its implementation for a between two and three years. "We will finalise the consultant within a week or so", he said.