Thiruvananthapuram: A business, organisational and process makeover is on at the Union Bank of India, which is likely to be capped by an extensive re-branding exercise during the final stages of implementation.

The made over 88-year-old public sector bank will be unveiled by March - April 2008, in tome for the new financial. The most visible change will be the new logo, which will be accompanied by a comprehensive corporate communication strategy.

The Boston Consulting Group has been appointed as advisor to the bank for its business and process re-engineering efforts, the most immediate impact of which will be felt in the form of a renewed focus on the retail, SME and agri-business sectors.

Back office processes such as clearing, account opening, cheque book issuing and dispatch of account statements are slated to be spun off from branches to centralised back-offices.

The bank has set up a centralised data centre in Mumbai, with an onsite back-up server and an offsite mirroring facility in Bangalore. Almost half of the bank''s branch network has completed migration to this core banking platform, with the remaining expected to follow suit over the next few months.