It was a busy second floor Great Western Ballroom lounge at the Hilton Paddington with nearly 300 customers, distinguished guests and employees gathered to celebrate the Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd's 10th Foundation Day celebrations on 13th May with drinks, food and a fantastic musical evening with Jyotsna Srikanth, on the violin.
Gracing the event were dignitaries GP Hinduja, Chairman of Hinduja Group of Companies, MPs Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra, the Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK Dinesh Patnaik and his wife, Tara Naidu, the Regional Manager of Air India in the UK and Ireland, CB Patel, Editor of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar and leading hotelier J Sanger.
The Managing Director and CEO of Punjab National Bank (International) Limited Antanu Das welcomed the guests with an impassioned speech, in which he spoke about the banks successful journey in the UK and future.
“PNB IL has grown in business over the past ten years, reaching more than $2.1 billion in deposits and advances put together. It has an employee strength of 115 and a customer base of around 65,000 at present," said Atanu.
PNB IL has a bouquet of products which includes standard deposit and loan products along with its modifications including developmental finance (not regulated mortgages). The bank has a facility of contactless debit card and lockers in 3 of its branches and facilitates opening of NRI accounts. It caters to the Indian diaspora and has a brand recall value.
“The bank is making efforts to improve on its efficiency and services. We are upgrading the core banking software to the latest version and the internet banking system. Digitalisation and improvement of IT infrastructure are the key elements that we continue to strive for without losing in any way on the human touch that we are known for.
“Customers may forget what you said, but they never forget how you made them feel,” he said.
A valued customer, who did not wish to be named praised the services: “My experience with PNB in the UK has been great. My branch manager is extremely helpful and supportive, and I have referred many of my friends and families who also bank with them now.”
Another esteemed customer said “PNB is a trusted bank among the Indian diaspora and we feel comfortable doing business with an established brand like theirs. The staff are helpful and give us good guidance.”
Stalwarts from the Indian banking fraternity were present that evening. Dr K.C Chakravorty – Former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India and Forer Chairman of PNB, the CEO of State Bank of India Sanjeev Chadha, Chief Executive of European Operations of Bank of Baroda, Dhimant Trivedi, MD & CEO of Union Bank of India (UK) Ltd, Brajeshwar Sharma, Executive Director & Deputy Chief Executive -Union Bank of India (UK) Anand Kumar and the Executive Director of Punjab National Bank Nicholas Coleman were present.
To set the mood of the evening, Jyotsna Srikanth on the violin, accompanied by her entourage, performed a beautiful rendition of the Indian national anthem, melodious Carnatic Ragas and a few film tunes from Bollywood. A beautiful melange of Indian classical music mixed with contemporary beats resulted in a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowds.
PNB IL has 7 outlets in the UK – 4 in the capital and 3 in Midlands. It is a subsidiary of the Punjab National Bank in India with a strong heritage of a 123 years. It started as a Swadeshi Bank way back in Lahore in 1985, supported by people of all faiths and religions – signifying the diverse but unifying Indian culture. PNB merged 7 banks into it. PNB is one of the largest nationalised banks of India, with a business of $153 billion.
