Auckland: Bank of Baroda New Zealand celebrated its first anniversary in New Zealand in the presence of a select gathering at its inaugural Auckland branch last week.
Though it was formally inaugurated by the parent bank's Chairman and Manging Director M D Mallya and the Indian Government's Minister of State of Finance Namo Narain Meena in Fenruary this year, it began actual operations after its "soft launch" on June 21 last year.
BOB NZ Managing Director satish Vermani told Indian Weekender that the bank's performance had exceeded all expectations because of the Indian community's wholehearted support. The bank had now fast tracked the opening of two new branches one in South Auckland and the other in Wellington, Mr Vermani said.
The Manukau branch will be located at 726, Great South Road and the Wellington Branch will be at 55, Featherstone Street.
"I signed the lease for the Wellington branch just last week," Mr Vermani said. "The location is opposite the Wellington Railway Station and adjacent to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which is a landmark in itself"
The branches would be functional around September or October, Mr Vermani said.
In the past year, the bank has already accumulated deposits of $20 million and advanced loans of about $10 million, Mr Vermani revealed.
The highly popular zero-fee remittance service to India had surpassed Rs 30 crores, he said.
The bank already has a customer base of 1500 and it is quite upbeat about the future, especial in the face of the developing Free Trade Agreement with India, Mr Vermani said.
Prominent businesspeople from Auckland attended the first birthday celebrations at the Dominion Road branch.