Hyderabad: State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) has become one of the few public sector banks in the country to have achieved full computerisation. SBH expects to implement the core banking solution next year to offer anytime anywhere banking at its 902 branches and 80 ATMs. In an aggressive bid to expand its reach, the bank plans to expand its population of ATMs to 250 by March 2004.

According to A G Kalmankar, managing director, State Bank of Hyderabad, the bank had earmarked a total budget of Rs 350 crore for the technology initiative and so far spent Rs 120 crore in the last one-and-half-a-years.

He disclosed that SBH had achieved a total business of Rs 31,500 crore of which deposits were Rs 20,782 crore while advances stood at Rs 10,803 crore as of end November 2003. The bank registered an operating profit of Rs 418 crore for the half-year ended September while its capital adequacy ratio stood at 15.07 per cent for the same period, Kalmankar added.

Chandan Bhattacharya, managing director SBI, said all the seven associate banks of SBI would achieve full computerisation in the next few weeks. "At least four of our associate banks will have less than 1 per cent NPAs by March 2004 while the parent bank (SBI) is expected to lower its NPAs to below two per cent level by March 2005," he added.