During the current financial year, the Central Bank of India is to add 23 more branches in the coastal Andhra Pradesh, said Balakrishnan, the bank Field General Manager in charge of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. He added that the bank was competing with the new generation private banks in providing services to customers. Balakrishnan said this in Visakhapatnam on August 7 after opening the bank’s 75th retail asset branch in the country.
He added that the bank's focus is on retail lending and its interest rates are competitive and much cheaper than those offered by private banks. The bank was offering loans to small and medium enterprises at 10.5 per cent and for women no security would be needed up to Rs 1 crore if they wanted to set up SMEs. To promote retail lending, the bank would appoint business facilitators.