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PNB ties up with Everest Bank of Nepal

To provide cheaper cash withdrawal services by sharing ATMs

— PHOTO: KAMAL NARANG

SHARE AND PROSPER: S. C. Gupta (left), Chairman and Managing Director, Punjab National Bank, exchanging documents after signing an agreement on ATMs with B. K. Shrestha, Chairman, Everest Bank Ltd., Nepal, in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Saturday tied up with Nepal's Everest Bank for sharing ATMs in the first such cross-border arrangement by any Indian bank.

"PNB and Everest Bank have joined hands to provide cheaper cash withdrawal services by sharing their ATMs," PNB Chairman, S. C. Gupta, said here.

He said this was the first such cross-border arrangement by any Indian bank, which would enable PNB customers to use ATMs of 13 banks in Nepal as Everest Bank, in which PNB holds 20 per cent equity, has an understanding with other Nepalese banks.

PNB would charge Rs. 50 for cash withdrawals by their customers in Nepal, which is much lower than Rs. 150 that customers shell out per cash withdrawal from ATMs outside India under International Switching network of MasterCard.

The Chennai-based transaction switching vendor, Financial Software Solutions, and a switching vendor in Nepal, Smart Choice Technology, are providing the cross-country ATM sharing solution to PNB and Everest Bank, respectively.

PNB has 871 ATMs in India, which was likely to grow to 1,100 by March 2007, PNB executive director, K. Raghuraman, said.

It has 4,400 branches across the country.

Everest Bank, a small private bank, has about 20 branches and five ATMs in Nepal and a representative office in New Delhi, Everest Bank Chairman, B. K. Shrestha, said.

This was a new year bonanza for the business community, tourists and students of both the countries as the low cost of transactions would encourage them to use ATMs instead of carrying cash, Mr. Shrestha said. — PTI

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