State bank of India (SBI) has implemented the concept of Super Circle of Excellence (SCE) to focus on select branches for high growth, improved efficiency, high quality of customer service and also act as a forum for sharing best practices.

As on March 2010, there are 661 branches in SCE, out of which 331 branches are under 16 dedicated SCE regions and 330 selected on the basis of one-per-region, facilitated by SCE coordinator.

The branches have been selected on a twin track approach, i.e., one subset comprising cluster of branches in metro and large urban centres to meet the burgeoning competition and other subset consisting of branches selected on the basis of one per region, aiming to transplant best practices from high-performing branches to other outlets across the country.

The SCE branches are primarily focusing on growth in retail business, CASA deposits and income from cross selling.

The overall performance of SCE branches is being measured on a multi-dimensional efficiency matrix, covering all aspects of business. The SCE branches are benchmarking with the best performing bank in retail operations and has set high standards of customer service. The objective of SCE branches is to reach a zero complaint status.

These branches constitute 5.32% of the total network of the bank. Their contribution in business of SBI, as on March 2010, stood at 12.94% in retail deposits, 15.90% in retail advances, 16.99% in personal advances and 13.36% in the cross-selling income, which are steadily improving.

The SCE branches are extensively leveraging the new technology initiatives of the bank, for example, internet banking, mobile banking, RTGS, NEFT, demat and e-trade, for decongesting the branches and enhancing overall customer experience. The SCE subset has contributed nearly 18% in total technological product coverage of the bank.

The SEC branches as on March 2010 has seen retail reposits of Rs 53,451 crore (experiencing an year-on-year growth of Rs 9,879 crore, or 22.67% as against 21.97% achieved by non-SCE branches). Similarly, personal advances in these branches stood at Rs 22,834 crore,y-o-y growth of Rs 6,488 crore. While CASA deposits in these branches are estimated at Rs 32,652 crore (Rs 7,650 crore), CASA ratio has improved to 40.15% in March, 2010, from 35.20% in the year-ago period.

These branches have recorded cross-selling income at Rs 27.66 crore (Y-o-Y growth of 112.17% from 97%).

SBI has undertaken potential mapping application through SCE department through data warehouse portal to correctly measure and tap the potential available in the area of operation of each SCE branch.

For measuring level of customer satisfaction in SCE branches on a matrix of 100, a customer feedback format has been devised with 25 parameters. The formats are directly dispatched to customers and the responses keyed in online in the centralised CSM application developed by SCE department.

With continuous tracking of the deficient areas, the average CSM scores is now in the range of 85-87 as against 80-82 in March 2009.