Kotak Bank, ING Vysya merger to be completed this financial year

Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), which acquired ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal last year, on Tuesday said it expects to end the integration process by the end of this financial year. After acquiring ING Vysya, KMB became the fourth-largest private lender in the country after ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

"The integration process will be over in the next six to nine months," Sumit Bali, senior executive vice-president and head (personal assets), KMB, said, adding that after the acquisition of ING Vysya, the employee strength has gone up to 40,000, of which 29,500 belong to Kotak Mahindra and the rest belong to ING Vyasa Personal Numerology Trading Tips

On expansion plans, he said the focus will be more on "consolidation" of branches of ING Vysya, adding that there will be a marginal 10-15% rise in the number of branches this fiscal. Currently, the bank has 1,200 branches.

Speaking at the launch of a special themed debit card with the cover of Amish Tripathi's book 'Scion of Ikshvaku', he said the card featuring the cover of 'Scion of Ikshvaku' offers discounts on any book purchased at Crossword. "The special themed debit card is a unique addition to our cards portfolio, and a prized possession for any book lover. We will continue offering exclusive propositions in areas of lifestyle and passion, and make banking with us more delightful," he said, adding that the bank will tie up with more authors in the coming days Nifty Trading Tips

The bank's top official indicated that banking activity is expected to surge on social media platform in the coming days as the banking industry is seeing a dip in net banking and a rise in mobile banking activities. "The growth on social media seems good as we are seeing a growth of around 30-40% quarter-on-quarter," he added.

The bank launched 'Tweet to Order', which is a book buying service on Twitter for the bank's customers. The bank is betting big on the social media platform and launched banking on social media in March 2014, following it up with Hashtag Banking in February 2015 Astrology market books