City Union Bank is a classic example of how banks should use their core strengths to grow in a steady manner without getting stuck in ‘scale and size’ trap, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs said here.

Addressing the 116th Foundation Day celebrations of City Union Bank Ltd, Kumbakonam-based old private sector bank, she said companies were increasingly getting obsessed with the idea of ‘scaling up’. But in the case of banks, they should realise their core strengths and play according to that strengths. Because banks handle public money and have the responsibility to create trust in addition to ensuring consistent and stable growth.

City Union Bank has exactly done that. It has played on its strengths to ensure profitable growth while focusing on continuous value addition to its customers, she added.

Lauding the bank for staying strong during economic down cycles such as the Great Depression and Lehman Brothers Financial Crisis, Sitharaman pointed out that the bank’s record of running the operations all through these 115 years without any strike and disruptions to its services would be a management case study in the areas of human relations and customers relations management.

“We always quote the example of multi-national companies for such things. It is time that we talked about the success of the Tamil Nadu based bank,” she said.

Sitharaman said that CUB was also a responsible institution as it focused not only on generating profits and paying dividends, but also spending its profits on society.

CUB’s Managing Director and CEO, N Kamakodi pointed out that not many banks in the world had the record of generating profit and paying dividends continuously since its inception.,

He also highlighted the history of the bank and narrated the schemes undertaken by the bank under Corporate Social Responsibility for which it had spent over ₹51 crore.

The bank has spent the money on building toilets for government institutions and public places, restoring water bodies and enhancing school infrastructure.

Earlier, Sitharaman launched the bank’s “CUB – all in one mobile app.

Published on November 23, 2019