HDFC Bank ties up with IOC to provide banking

Private sector HDFC Bank said on Friday it has tied-up with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation for providing banking services in the rural areas.

Under the partnership, IOC's rural petrol pump outlets -- Kisan Seva Kendras -- will act as the bank's Business Correspondents, HDFC Bank said in a statement.

Beginning with Pilibhit, the bank plans to cover 1,000 KSKs in a phased manner and each of these outlets will be able to serve around 1,500 customers, it said.

The outlets will offer banking services such as preliminary processing of loan applications, disbursal and collection of small value deposits, sale of micro-insurance,

mutual funds and other investment instruments.

Commenting on the tie-up, Michael Andrade, head agri-business, HDFC Bank, said it has more than 75 per cent of its total branches in tier 2 and tier 3 towns and cities.

This initiative in partnership with IOC is yet another step towards taking banking to the enterprising Indians in the hinterlands, he said.

Given IOC's broad network of rural retail outlets and our bouquet of banking products, this partnership is a win-win for our customers, Andrade added.