SBT-Kudumbasree drive for financial inclusion

State Bank of Travancore(SBT) is now in the process of tying up with the Kudumbasree poverty eradication project of the Govt. of Kerala to roll out the banking correspondent/ facilitator model in 27 under-banked villages allocated to the Bank in the state. Earlier this year, SBT had formulated and approved a full-fledged financial inclusion plan according to the directives,Managing Director-in-charge said.The plan, inter alia,involves extending banking services to 41 currently under-banked villages with a population of over 2000. Of these, 27 are in Kerala and 14 in Tamil Nadu.(BL 08092010)

SBI to raise Rs 500 crore via retail bonds

State Bank of India plans to tap retail investors via a bond issue . The executive committee of the bank's board accorded approval for raising Tier II capital by way of public issue of lower Tier II bonds for Rs 500 crore with an option to retain 100% oversubscription. Although other banks like IDBI and ICICI regularly tapped retail investors through the 1990s and early 2000 via deep-discount bonds, SBI have not tapped retail investors as deposits were easy to come, say analysts.SBI may make the bond issue in October which could be of 10-15 years tenure.(BL 08092010)