CHICAGO: The mini Indian Town in Chicago on Devon Avenue is heading for a big lift in its stature this year as a premier bank of Texas (SBT) that has taken over National Republic Bank, plans moving its Chicago headquarter from Downtown Chicago Devon Avenue by February.
The bank has its presence on Devon Avenue as a branch but the move is now to shift its all activities to the Devon facility. The Devon area businessmen, a large number hailing from Indian subcontinent, have welcomed the management move to come to their area and look forward to increasingly use the facilities provided by the bank. The Devon area from Damen Avenue to California Avenue houses over 1000 small and big commercial houses – shops owned or run by people from Indian sub-continent. This would include Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans as well.
Chan (Chandrakant) Patel, president of SBT in a talk to this paper said that this is a part of the economic rationalization process that has been initiated right from the day the new management took charge two months ago and it reflects “our determination to turn the erstwhile NR bank from a losing proposition to a money making venture.” The Downtown headquarter is a rental one and in the process the management hoped to save thousands of dollars.
The SBT team headed by Chan and his two sons, Sushil and Rajan, and the trio has already made its mark in effecting a fast upturn in the bank working. According to Chandrakant Patel, the bank is in the green making a profit of $1.2 million a year and by all account this uptrend would continue in the coming months, especially in view of the fact that the bad accounts are pruned down and the management is exercising extra vigilance while intending operations.
The hospitality industry was probably the prime most sector getting loan from the bank and it is reported that one single borrower with multi-chain motels was topping the list with over $150 million in loans. There were a good number of small and medium sized hotel motel owners who had been getting the finance from the bank. The SBT management has been successful in straightening out the loan portfolio and weeding out defaulters.
Chandrakant Patel said, “We want to reshape our loan operations and cut down dependence on any single sector. For the time being, we would be chary entertaining applications from the hospitality sector but I want to assure that this is a short term phenomenon and we would not close our doors for ever. I am an hotelier too and SBT was started for helping small time operators,” he said.
Chandrakant Patel does visualize any adverse impact on the bank account while shifting headquarters to Devon Ave. “Online transitions – deposits and withdrawals – are gaining in more and more acceptance. Besides, my bank can rake in any amount – large or small – in deposits though offering attractive interest rates. We will be doing just fine,” he said with lot of confidence.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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