People queued up in bank for Akshaya Trithiya
If you thought people queued up only at jewellers on Akshaya Trithiya, to buy gold, you are mistaken. They have now turned to the banks, both public and private sector. The banks offering gold coins have seen brisk business on this day for the last two years.A private sector bank, which focused on major towns here last year, expanded its marketing to rural and semi-urban areas too this year. And, in some of the villages in the district 100 to 150 coins were sold in two days. Further, the bank introduced lower denomination coins and registered sales higher than that of last year.Customers fall into two main categories: those who want to invest in gold and those who want to buy jewellery. The number of people who want to invest in gold has been increasing. One reason for the good demand for coins from the banks on the special day, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, was the broad customer base that the banks had. Indian Bank sold over 12 kg through 30 branches in Coimbatore district. The coins were in denominations of two, four, eight, 10, 20 and 50 gm. Since, buying gold on Akshaya Trithiya has sentimental value, the bank decided to go in for the lower denominations for the benefit of small-income groups. And, the response was overwhelming for the two gm coins, says an official. Some of these customers come to the bank later too if they need to buy gold coins. Union Bank of India sold gold coins in nine of its branches in Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruchi districts. Customers gain confidence since the coins are sold in tamper-proof packing and in 24-carat gold.
