IBM inks outsourcing deal with Rajasthan cooperative bank

Bangalore, Dec 15 (IANS) Global IT major IBM has signed a five-year outsourcing agreement with Madhav Nagrik Sahakari Bank, a leading cooperative bank in Rajasthan, the company said Monday.

As part of the deal, IBM India will host and manage the IT infrastructure of the bank and reduce its capital expenditure. The end-to-end IT-enabling environment will also help the bank focus on its expansion plans, the IT firm said in a statement here.

The 35-year-old Sirohi-based urban cooperative bank has 25 branches across Rajasthan, with 172,000 customers. Besides conventional banking, it offers internet banking, mobile banking and ATM facilities to its customers pre-dominantly based in semi-urban and rural areas.

'The engagement with Sahakari Bank reiterates our commitment to help organisations looking to grow their business. Our IT services will help the bank to reduce IT expenditure, focus on its core business and expansion plans,' IBM India vice-president Nipun Mehrotra said in the statement.

The deal will also help the bank overcome a key challenge of getting IT experts in small towns like Sirohi, which has a population of about 55,000. By hosting the IT infrastructure from its data centres, IBM will enable the bank leverage the same expertise that serves many of its enterprises and global clients.

'In this age of technology-driven banking, even a co-operative bank like ours is taking a leap in providing the best of banking experience to our customers,' bank's managing director Mukesh Modi said.