Saturday, May 1, 2010

SBI - its different always

Have you noticed the ads of SBI in recent months.  Three or four tag lines....Pure Banking - Nothing Else; The Banker to Every Indian; With you all the way.  And those creative ads with Great Indians like Rabindra Nath Tagore, et al.    I had written on March 20 in this blog about their accomplishments about ATMs and branches............. The Bank always growing younger and younger with innovations and creations, achieving higher results year after after.  It is a Giant Bank, of course, of India.

Business Line today carries two news items with captions - 1. Massive drop in bank lending to real estate sector and 2. SBI group bucks the trend; real estate loans up 56%  (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/)
That is State Bank.  The details can be read from the link given here.

Why I am still in love with the bank I left in 1993?  Donno why.  I got a call from a Mumbaikar friend last week for an advice to a TAPMIan who got an offer to join SBI in middle management cadre. This candidate passed out from TAPMI in 2008 and hardly knows me.  But my friend Avinash is a high profile academician; he is an Economist, a Fellow in Management from IIM-A, was a senior executive for decades, a Consultant and Director for many companies, a Researcher and highly accomplished Academic too besides a good human being.  He knows my past (in SBI) and present (in TAPMI); he likes me and shares his frank thoughts in general whenever we meet in Manipal or Mumbai.

The candidate has been working in a private sector financial consulting company with a plum compensation.  He is into equity research.  He is now in a dilemma to choose between the lucrative private job and accepting the SBI offer.  He sought Avinash's advice who in turn referred him to me.  Of course, he gave his gyan and suggested the candidate to consider SBI from long term career growth perspective.  In my own style, I sang the song for SBI and host of opportunities ahead of him even up to becoming the Chairman of the bank.  The candidate shared his concerns over phone as also through email, which I responded in favour of SBI job.  Avinash concurred with my views.  It is for the candidate to make up his mind between money and career.

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