In a bid to revive its stressed financial situation, public lender Bank of India may shut its 700 ATMs by the end of February, said an official.
As a part of its cost-cutting drive, the bank will immediately close its 400 ATMs immediately and will decide on shutting 300 ATMs by the end of February.
The bank said that the latest move is a part of its revamping plan that aims to cause minimal inconvenience to customers.
The plan involves the bank analysing customer requirements, usage pattern and locations before shutting the ATMs. In April this year, they reduced the number of their ATMs to 7,717 from 7,807 ATMs in December.
Bank of India Managing Director and Chief Executive Dinabandhu Mohapatra has reportedly said the bank is working on the turnaround plan for the last six months and will be proceeding with an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the government.
“The priority has been controlling costs through steps like rationalisation of branches and ATMs, and rebalancing the loan portfolio by increasing the share of retail loans,” he said.
The state-owned bank is reported to be under stress and recorded fresh slippages in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 period.
Despite witnessing improvement in recoveries from the stressed assets, the bank’s gross and net non-performing asset (NPAs) is still alarming.
The bank has been put under “prompt corrective action” by the Reserve Bank of India due to its high level of net NPAs, insufficient common equity Tier I capital and negative return on assets for two consecutive years.
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