Avoid opening bank account with Syndicate Bank, Sarjapura branch, Bangalore. KYC means Kick Your Customer.

The Syndicate bank officers there have a very bad attitude, treat customers in a condescending way and act as if the customer interested in opening a bank account is nothing short of thief.

There is one particular jerk in the Sarjapura branch, a dark guy with long hair, big glasses who sits on a table that is behind the front service counters.

First we had visited the branch on 24/09/2011 to open an account. The guy gave the application with great difficulty and only after making a face like an unimpressed potential mother in-law.

Since we had done prior due diligence we brought all the documents including the property papers as address, apart from the regular government docs. This had irritated him but he really got stuck at the income proof which is usually the case with the sons of the soil. He couldn’t take his eye off that document and clenched his lips in a manner as if he would suck the currency notes if the bundle was in front of him.

“No, you need to get a introducer” to open an account here. “Go, talk to the manager”, he retorted.

We met the manager, and he said that you may get somebody from the layout to give an introduction for you. We’re fine with that and went to get the signature with the account number of the introducer. We returned back to the branch at 12:59pm. The bank doors were duly closed and the guard refused to oblige.

We said, “never mind” and we went back. That was on 24/09/2011.

Cut to year 2012, about four months later.

Yesterday, as we were driving down to Sarjapura, we carried the papers again and went to the Syndicate Bank, Sarjapura branch.

The front desk personnel redirected us again to the same old jerk.

The guy running his hands through his hair muttered, “you had come few months back. Do you remember why we rejected your application ?”

We stated, “You just wanted the introducer’s details. Mr. XYZ-appa has signed and mentioned is account number”.

Hmm, let me see.

“No, you have to fill your residence number also”, he countered.

Namita filled in the phone number and signed.

The sifted through the pages, not knowing where to find the next objection.

So, he stated, “Kannada bartala” or some such phrase.

Namita, said we understand a bit “sulpa sulpa”.

I added, “what has Kannada got to do with banking, account opening and undertaking transactions ? your software is in English, isn’t it ?”

“This is KYC procedure. If you are uncomfortable, you need not to open the account here”, the jerk tried to throw a bait.

I said, “we have provided you all the documents that you need - PAN, address proof, copy of land line bill, driving license, copy of the bank statement and the information is consistent”, trying to get him back on track.

“You want fake PAN card, fake address proof, fake land line bill etc. how many you want ?”, the syndicate bank jerk said.

I said, “that is not the point. when we have provided all the documents, you should not have a problem”.

“If you are uncomfortable, you need not open the bank account”, he again threw a bait.

It was quite apparent that given the mindset of the Syndicate Bank officer saturated with ego was to “not open the bank account”.

Right in front of the jerk officer, i removed the photographs, retained the supporting documents and tore up the application and threw it in the dust bin besides him.

“That is what a sincere customer values you and your bank”, i said.

We smartly got up, “Thank you for your wonderful services Mr. Bank manager” and walked out of the bank.

We were absolutely sure that we did not want to open a bank account where the officers have such a bad attitude.

We asked around and the people suggested IDBI Bank and Corporation Bank on the Sarjapura-Attibele road. With the same supporting documents we opened a savings account in Corporation Bank in just 15 minutes.

Over the weekend as I shared the expereince with my friends, almost all of them said, the attitude of officers at Syndicate Bank is quite bad, why open an account there ?

One of them mentioned that in Kannada many people refer to Syndicate Bank as “Chandi Kett” Bank !

In the final analysis, if you stay in Sarjapura area, Corporation Bank is a very good choice with courteous service focussed staff. IDBI Bank is another very good option.