Merger of three banks doesn’t change anything for customers

YOU WILL CONTINUE TO GET THE SAME INTEREST RATE PROMISED BY YOUR EXISTING BANK, EVEN AFTER THE MERGER TAKES PLACE

MUMBAI : Do you have a savings account, fixed deposit or any kind of loans with Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank? Are you wondering what the bank merger announcement by the government means for you?

Firstly, the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank is likely to take four-six months. After the merger, for customers of any of these banks— Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank—it is business as usual. You will be able to do all the transactions that you used to at your exiting bank branch, automated teller machines and online.

A case in point is State Bank of India (SBI). In 2017, five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank were merged with SBI. All the customer of the merged banks were able to do transactions as usual. However, in case of SBI, the process at the bank-end was easier.

“Nothing happens to the customers’ accounts. They continue to operate their accounts as usual. In our case, the associate banks were on the same platform. From the bank’s end, data migration needs to happen, which is a bit of a challenge. But we were prepared for it and since it was on the same platform, it was helpful for us. However, I won’t be able to say how it will work for other banks,” said PK Gupta, managing director (retail and digital banking), SBI.

For Bharatiya Mahila Bank, it was on another platform. But the volumes were very small so it did not make much difference, said Gupta. You will also continue to get the same interest rate that has been promised by your existing bank on merger.

“For all products, the existing rates continue till the refixing date. For instance, in case of fixed deposit, the interest rate will continue to be the same till the time of maturity,” said Gupta.

In case of other services, you can continue to use the same chequebook and debit cards for cash withdrawal and payments, till it is phased out by the bank and issued a new one. Your online interface and IFSC code will change but only gradually.