Friday, June 30 2006 17:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: United Bank of India (UBI) Friday tied up with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to implement 'Finacle core banking solution, which will enable customers to bank anytime across the country.

"Developed by Infosys Technologies Ltd, the core banking solution will help the customers deal with the bank anytime and from anywhere in the country," UBI chairman and managing director P.K. Gupta told reporters here.

UBI had already tied up with state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for setting up a virtual perfect network (VPN) to enable a faster network system for the bank.

"The cost of setting up a VPN and implementing the core banking solution is Rs.2 billion," Gupta said.

"Initially the core banking solution will be implemented in 600 branches, majority of which are in the eastern region.

"In the second phase, the project will be implemented in 900 branches of the bank, having 1,318 branches across the country.

"The project will take five years to be fully implemented and in the next six to eight years the bank will be able to recover the entire cost and achieve higher business volumes," he said.

"The HP-Infosys combination has been selected by an open tender process by Ernst and Young (E&Y) the bank's consultants for development of business," Gupta added.

UBI, having 13.5 million customers, is targeting Rs.550-billion business this year from Rs.452 billion achieved last year.

HP vice-president Kapil Jain said, "UBI is the fifth customer of HP in core banking solutions segment. We are looking at more growth opportunities in the segment."

Vikas Gupta, regional manager (Sales) of Infosys Technologies, said, "UBI is the 15th bank in the country where the Finacle solution is being implemented."