Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Mar 29: Efforts made by various quarters including customers and employees of Vijaya Bank to retain the identity of the bank which took birth in coastal Karnataka, have failed. The customers of Vijaya Bank have got SMS alerts, which have officially conveyed to them information that Vijaya Bank will merge with Bank of Baroda from April 1 onwards, and it will henceforth be a part of Bank of Baroda.

When a declaration about the proposal to merge Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda was made sometime back, protests were held at various places of costal Karnataka. Even retired employees of Vijaya Bank had joined hands with the efforts to save the identity of the bank which is still making profits unlike some bigger banks.

Many expected a miracle at the last minute, and were eagerly awaiting the announcement that Vijaya Bank would be kept out of this merger plan.

The messages sent to customers of Vijaya Bank on Thursday said that Vijaya Bank is being merged from April 1 onward with Bank of Baroda and that all its services will remain unaffected. It informed the customers that they would be part of the third largest banking network of India from April 1 and that their current account number, debit and credit cards, net banking and mobile banking facility etc will continue to be available as before. For more detais, the customers have been asked to contact branches of Vijaya Bank.