Punjab National Bank short-lists 6 agencies

Punjab National Bank has finalised six agencies for its Rs 20 crore account. The bank had recently called for an agency pitch.

Agencies in the short-list include JWT, Lowe, O&M, Capital, Rediffusion and Percept.

Senior PNB officials said that apart from these six agencies, there were two more in the fray, but the pair had dropped out. Names of the two agencies could not be ascertained.

Saubhagya Advertising handled a bulk of the bank's recent Rs 3,000 crore IPO, and is counted among the bank's incumbent agencies. But the agency has not been involved in any of the product adverts released by the bank.

agencyfaqs! had earlier reported about the bank's policy of inviting the top 10 agencies in India as per an industry survey conducted by a business daily.

What's of interest is the bank's apparent policy of allowing roster agencies to handle conflicting businesses. This implies that participation is open to all the big agencies, which may be already servicing other competitor banks.

PNB's portfolio includes corporate and personal banking, industrial finance, agricultural finance, financing of trade and international banking. The bank serves over 3.5 crore customers through 4,497 offices, and is apparently the largest among nationalised banks.

The bank was recently ranked 38th among top 500 Indian companies by a leading financial daily. Also, PNB's attempts at providing best customer service has earned it the 9th position among India's most trusted top 50 service brands in an Economic Times- A.C Nielson survey.

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