One of the distinct advantages of dealing with major Indian banks that are fully owned by the Indian government is the security and safety that they offer and the global spread enabling individuals and institutions to benefit from their worldwide presence.
Banks registered and licenced by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand offer the additional advantage of stringent monetary and regulatory controls, ensuring trouble-free operations.
Bank of India NZ (BOINZ) Limited, established as a fully owned subsidiary of the Mumbai based Bank of India is one of just two major Indian banks to operate in New Zealand.
The first branch of the bank, located at 10 Manukau Road, Epsom (Central Auckland) has been witnessing impressive growth since its inauguration (By RBNZ Governor Dr Alan Bollard) on October 11, 2011.
BOI is India’s fifth largest bank in terms of assets and has 3570 branches in India spread over all states/ union. It was the first Indian Bank to open a branch outside the country in London in 1946 .
The Bank today has 29 international branches and offices at key financial centres including London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
International business accounts for about 20% of Bank’s total business.
Chairman Alok Mishra said global expansion was a key part of Bank of India’s strategy targeting local customers of both Indian and non-Indian origin.
“This is not only a testament for bank’s longevity but also foresight in realising that the world would become more and more inter-connected through globalisation.
“India is one of the fastest growing markets of New Zealand. New Zealand exports to India have tripled over the last decade,” he said in Auckland last month.
He was in New Zealand with Executive Director N Seshadri and General Manager (International) Sugata Kumar Datta to assess the progress achieved and discuss future plans.
BOINZ Managing Director Nageshwar Rao said that the Bank’s strength would be its ability to deliver competitive banking solutions supported by the global services of Bank of India Group.
“Our worldwide customer base has grown from 47 million on October 6, 2011 to more than 50 million as on February 2, 2012. In absolute terms, BOI family size has grown by three million in four months, which is almost equal to 75% of the population of New Zealand,” he said.
M Rao said BOINZ provides a range of retail and commercial banking services, including savings, current, term deposits and loan products such as personal, mortgage, home, business and commercial loans.
“The branch also offers free and fast Indian Rupee remittance facility to any part of India through all banks and branches in India,” he said.
