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INDIA’S TOP 500 COMPANIES 2021 143 Experts’ View experience. Mutual Fund Investment Solutions are also being offered through KBL Mobile Plus. KBL SMART TRADE, with a two-in-one Demat and Trading facility is also launched recently. Bank’s Digital Centre of Excellence has now become the hub for incubating digital products, driving process innovation, increasing automation, digital marketing and social presence for increasing customer engagement, customer satisfaction & operational excellence for the Bank. DCoE has developed digital journeys covering Retail and MSME loan products using Business Rule Engine for automated verification, income assessment and credit underwriting. Bank’s excellence in various parameters like social banking, information technology, risk management, MSME Finance and so on have been recognized with awards and accolades instituted by renowned institutions like IDRBT, FIEO, IBA, ASSOCHAM, CIMSME and CFBP among others over the years. How has Karnataka Bank responded to the disruption caused by the ongoing pandemic? What is your growth strategy over next 3-5 years? To overcome Covid wave 2.0, as in the previous fiscal, our Bank will continue to be guided by the axiom ‘conserve, consolidate and emerge stronger’. The Bank has set a moderate growth target of 12 % for business turnover for the current fiscal focusing on a cost – lite liability portfolio by concentrating more on CASA and low-cost retail term deposits besides developing a healthy asset portfolio which is largely protected against the ill effects of the pandemic in the long run. With the strong fundamentals and improved capital adequacy ratio, we are confident of sailing smooth this year also in spite of unforeseen challenges. Added to this, now we have got more than One Year’s experience in dealing with the pandemic. We have set a vision for our centenary year which will be in 2024. In this direction, we have already taken necessary steps towards major interventional areas like credit, human resources, information technology, efficiency enhancement & value creation for our stake holders. Collectively with the support of a dedicated team of 8,412 employees ably patronized by more than 2,25,478 shareholders and more than 11 million clients, I am confident that Bank will turn the corner as the pioneer - ‘The Digital Bank of Future’. Addressing ESG risks has emerged as one of the key priorities for any organization in recent years. What steps has Karnataka Bank taken to enhance its ESG ratings? In its 97 years of existence, Karnataka Bank has played a pivotal role in the lives of many by keeping pace with technology, providing quality service to customers, lending to borrowers at competitive rates, creating employment, distributing dividend on a consistent basis to the shareholders, actively discharging its ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, besides value creation by way of increase in market capitalisation. The Bank applies best management practices that provide stability, growth, transparency, disclosures and value creation, thus maintaining highest standards of Corporate Governance that its Founders have set since inception way back in 1924. Dun & Bradstreet