The Bank of Baroda was started by the princely state of Vadodara and was handled by them i.e. Gaekwad’s (as informed by AMRITA) at the start of 20th century. They were the one who took initiative to enter into the banking sector, when the banking sector in India was at its prematured stage. Prior to this all the banking transactions were carried on by the British Government. After the independence, this bank had the winning edge over all the other because it being the foundation pillar of the banking industry in India. Later on, in 1969 this bank too was nationalised with other banks by the then Prime Minister Late Mrs. Gandhi. Right now, this bank ranks as one of the top five nationalised banks with work force of 25, 000 plus employees having over 20 million customers all over the globe.
Since 1997, I hold a Savings Account with this bank. I rate this bank as average in accordance to my experience. The customer service, though not excellent can be said to be fair enough in comparison to other nationalised banks. To operate a Savings Account one is required to keep a minimum balance of Rs. 1, 000/-. If you aren’t able to keep the minimum balance they would charge you Rs. 25/- per month. Customer Service during banking hours are quite prompt but after banking hours it solely depends upon the mood of staff. If, India has won a cricket match they would help you to solve your queries (that’s my personal experience) otherwise they asks to come during banking hours the next day. So, after banking hour services depends upon their mood. On the other day, if there’s the rush of regular customers then one is required to sit idlely wasting precious time. In context to charges charged by them, per cheque issued they would charge you Re. 0.50, demand draft and telegraphic transfer commission rates are: Rs. 5/- for an account holder and Rs. 7.50 to a non-account holder for a draft upto Rs. 1, 000/- and so on. The time consumed by them to issue a demand draft is normally 3 to 4 hours. As far as, Forex transactions are concerned they charge you Rs. 160/- for a draft upto $200/- while State Bank of India charges Rs. 110/-, so, forex transaction charges aren’t competitive. ATM machines are at very few branches out of total number of branches. They have other facilities such as credit card known as BOB card which was highly in use prior to credit card segment opened for private players but know its on a downward trend.
Bank of Baroda also holds an Asset Management Company which doesn’t work as an individual entity and so it too lacks professionalism. They have been alleged that they invest the money in shares of the company of their clients (to whom they have sanctined a loan). So, finally it results into their NAV being the lowest compared to that of the others.
Having a loan sanctioned or getting your account sanctioned for overdraft, cash credit, etc. isn’t a tough job. The loan gets sanctioned easily (provided the concerned authority is satisfied) if all the legal documents are filed.
Investing in the shares of Bank of Baroda isn’t safe. Nevertheless, they being multi-faceted bank having sizeable business and earning huge profits their NPA is heading towards Rs. 3, 000/- (as informed to me by a share broker at the time of its IPO) which is highly risky. I feel that Professionalism isn’t their virtue. To me it seems that they are having the fruits of their being the initiaters.
Still, they have ’’MILES TO GO’’ for entering in 21st century and being globally competitive.