Post-merger, the operations of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have witnessed success and the combined entity has now unveiled plans to strengthen the synergies further across the verticals.
?The businesses in India have been complementary and we are now getting actively involved in supporting capital market-related transactions with cash management solutions, including escrow accounts,? said Rajeev Bhargava, India head for global product delivery, Bank of America.
Despite uncertain global outlook and the time-consuming recovery in the country, Bank of America is bullish on the Indian growth story and plans to expand its operations in cash management and trade finance in a big way. Speaking exclusively to FE, senior bank officials said that the combined entity stands strongly committed to India and has plans to significantly build products and services in the cash management and trade businesses.
?Despite the downturn, we have not stopped making investments. Post merger, there has been a multi-fold impact in our Asian and Indian operations. The number of corporate relationships has gone up. Moreover, since we now have a larger client base, we are increasing our products and services for them,? said Kuresh Sarjan, senior vice-president, product delivery manager, Asia?global trade and supply chain solutions, Bank of America.
However, the combined entity has no plans to venture into retail and consumer banking though Merrill Lynch is a leading player in the wealth management business.
With the economic turmoil seen in 2008 and 2009, a large number of corporates have contacted banks for solutions to more efficiently manage their working capital. An efficient cash management system has been a key priority for CFOs and will drive the innovation and growth in the working capital management space as liquidity and credit continue to be important, Linebaugh said.
Highlighting the changing liquidity scenario, he said that in 2008, much of the discussion at the year- end revolved around liquidity and rising pricing for trade finance. However, the year 2009 has been significantly different with ample liquidity in the system and pricing going down. ?We are expecting a double digit growth rate from India. Going forward we expect India to be one of our top markets. That is the reason we are investing heavily in our cash management and trade finance business here,? said Linebaugh.
The bank has revamped its receivables platform in 2009 with the state-of-the-art system and is slated to upgrade its payments system in 2010. It is also looking at strategic hiring in India and Asia across various businesses. ?We will hire across the board in all areas of the business,? said Linebaugh.
The bank has recently launched a portal, Cash Pro Online, for the Indian market. It is considering to expand its receivable platform, Direct Debits, in India next year.
