Punjab National Bank (PNB) Corporate Banking

• 'XYZ Cement  Ltd.' plans to expand its installed capacity by setting up a greenfield manufacturing plant. The company is seeking to evaluate the means to finance this capex.
• 'ABC Communications Ltd', a telecom service provider plans to pare its burgeoning debt position.

The company is seeking customisable financial products to meet its requirement.

• 'DEF trading Ltd' has recently on-boarded new customers. The company is seeking a working capital loan to meet its requirement.

Welcome to the realm of corporate banking wherein banks provide a comprehensive, customisable suite of services to small, medium and  large businesses, across the government and  private sector undertakings.

The services suite  comprises:

• Long-term loans
• Short-term working capital loan
• Syndicate lending
• Treasury products such as  Forex hedging solutions and advisory services
• Cash management
• Risk management services
• Trade finance
• Commercial real estate
• Equipment financing
• Payment processing
• Private equity financing
• Netbanking and mobile banking multi-channel services

As an empirical example, let us take a look at Punjab National Bank(PNB).

Headquartered in New Delhi, Punjab National Bank is India's  second largest public sector undertaking, backed by an asset base of ₹1,339,301 crore ( FY2022), spread across a wide  network, domestic and overseas and with a customer base of 180 million.

Now let us look at the nuances of net banking services- registration, login process, eligibility criteria etc.

• To begin with, as long as you have the relevant KYC documents, you can avail the bank's digital banking services.
• You could either download the application form from the official web portal, www.pnbindia.in or visit the nearest  branch to avail the e-registration form.
• Once the details have been filled in the application form and submitted, the bank would send  the username or customer ID as  login credentials for digital services.
• Now login with these credentials into the web portal.
• You will be asked to enter an OTP which will be sent on your registered mobile number.
• You would be required to list down a set of seven Q&As and then and  then select an image.
• As a cyber security practice, it is advisable to change your password after the first login. Always ensure that the password is coded as cryptic.
• Once your password has been authenticated, you can login with the same. 

So basically, the digital services portfolio provides:

• Seamless, simplified and speedier channel as you can access  your account 24*7*365, everytime, everywhere.
• Easy and quick processing  of adding benedixiaey to your account.
• Easy and quick process for limit setting.
• You can also avail the facility of 'future transaction management', provisions for recurring transactions as you can schedule them as per your business requirement.
• Customers can also utilise the online channel to pay their direct/indirect taxes, insurance premiums and mutual fund payments etc.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs):

Q. How does corporate banking differ from retail banking?

The primary differences between retail and corporate banking are with respect to:

• Loan size and transaction size being larger in case of corporate customers.
• The product offerings are more customised in case of corporate banking versus a more standardised offering in case of retail banking.
• From a service charges perspective, the transaction costs are lower for corporate customers due to economies of scale versus retail customers.

Q. What is the benefit of PNB IBS shields?

As a part of PNB's endeavour to provide safe and secure digital  transactions, to its  users, the IBS shield provides a multi-layered authentication feature so as to minimise any unauthorised access to customer's account.

With IBS shield, the user has to set his/her image, phrase & register for seven challenge questions.

Q. How should my  PNB corporate net banking password be structured?

As a part of cyber security practice, always remember to change your password regularly and your password should always be Cryptic with alphanumeric and special characters and greater than 7-8 characters. Never keep your birth dates or name initials or your family's credentials as password.  

Q. What are some of the important do's and don'ts with regards to ensure safe and secure netbanking transactions?

• As mentioned above, always remember to change your password regularly and keep it cryptic- alphanumeric with a special character.
• Always login to the bank's official web portal and never through links provided in emails or SMS etc.
• Keep a tab on your account activity by checking your statements at regular intervals.
• Update your device's antivirus on a regular basis.
• In case your device is misplaced/stolen, report the case to the relevant authorities and your branch.
• Always remember to never ever share your confidential information over the internet.
• Never ever transfer funds without validating the beneficiary's credentials- account number, IFSC code, amount etc.