AP co-op banks join hands to save on automation

CHENNAI, INDIA: Twenty-three cooperative banks in Andhra Pradesh have hit upon a novel idea of using single core banking solution (CBS) and save on hardware and software costs.

Laser Soft, a subsidiary of banking software major Polaris Software, bagged the Rs. 8.2 crore software and maintenance contract for this project.

"Individually they are 23 entities. But they decided to use single CBS installed at Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (APSCOB) in Hyderabad on a multi-entity CBS model thereby saving each individual bank from investing in hardware and software," founder and managing director of Laser Soft Infosystems B. Suresh Kamath told IANS.

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The proposed implementation would be executed through a unique multi-entity CBS branded as Intellect Core Banking Solution, with centralised deployment at Hyderabad being used by 569 branches and 22 head offices of the District Central Cooperative Banks, according to Polaris.

"This is the first time in India cooperative banks are adopting such a practice. In many states each individual cooperative bank would buy the CBS and the needed hardware. Under this model each bank would have saved around Rs.4 crore," Kamath added.

In Andhra Pradesh, APSCOB is a Scheduled State Cooperative Bank. It has 22 affiliated District Cooperative Central Banks (DCCBs), which in turn, have 569 branches and 2746 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) through which developmental agricultural credit is provided.