New Delhi, May 14: Public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) is planning overseas expansion to meet the needs of Indian firms who are trying to turn multinational.

“Wherever the Indian population goes and Indian trade goes, we will go there. We are looking at Pakistan, Indonesia, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. In the next stage, we may look at Africa and Latin America,” K.C. Chakrabarty, chairman and managing director of PNB, told The Telegraph.

Scores of Indian companies are emerging as global players, including the Tatas, Wipro, Godrej, United Breweries and Reliance Industries.

PNB has recently received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open another branch in Shanghai and is now awaiting the Chinese government’s approval.

The bank is also awaiting the RBI’s clearance to open branches in Canada and Norway and is working on a joint venture deal to enter Bhutan.

“We need experience and expertise from the global market. This will give us a window to compete in the domestic market. Moreover, many of our customers are going global and they will want to work with PNB in the overseas markets,” said Chakrabarty.

The overseas branches and subsidiary offices will handle money transfers, fund Indian companies and their overseas clients.

PNB already has a presence in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Almaty (in Kazakhstan), Kabul and Dubai.

“To bolster the bank’s presence in the Indo-Gangetic plains and bring more financial inclusion, PNB is planning to take its entire range of services to the rural and semi-urban households through smart cards and mobile banking,” said Chakrabarty.

Opening an account alone does not amount to financial inclusion as the entire branch operation is vital to customer satisfaction, Chakrabarty said.

In the next five years the bank has set a target of opening 100 million ‘no frills’ accounts to become a “household bank”.

Meanwhile, PNB is in the process of setting up the credit card business on its own. “We will like to launch credit cards by October. The new card is likely to be a Visa credit card,” said Chakrabarty.

Last year, the PNB board had given approval to form a joint venture with Venture Infotech Global and an American International Group Inc (AIG) consortium for the card business.

Soon after, the bank sought RBI clearance, which is still due. In the absence of the RBI’s nod, the bank decided to go ahead on its own.

Chakrabarty said when the apex bank gave approval, the bank would look at the possibility of inducting a partner.

At present, PNB has a cobranding tie-up with HSBC in which the latter is the card issuer and plays a dominant role. The tie-up will expire in November 2008.