According to a report by The Australian, the bank has invited global suppliers to submit tenders for the outsourcing project.

It is thought that NAB is considering moving the jobs to an offshore centre in India. The bank's Asian management committee is expected to visit the country as part of its quarterly meeting in Hong Kong.

A bank spokesman told reports that NAB is "testing the market" and it will be months before the proposals are received. He said any affected staff would be redeployed if the project goes ahead.

The spokeman also said that any customer data would always remain in Australia.

NAB started a pilot offshoring programme last October involving 24 accounts payable staff in Bangalore.

The news follows moves by Australian bank Westpac to move 400 back office jobs to India. ANZ bank already has 1100 staff in Bangalore working on software development.