The National Australia Bank (NAB) plans to move some of its back office processing operations to India, according to local press reports.
According to a report by The Age, NAB has been pondering the move for several months as part of an overhaul of back office processing costs.
Contracts have not yet been exchanged, but NAB is thought to have made a decision in principle to establish a pilot data processing operation in India. The pilot centre may be established in partnership with a specialist outsourcing group.
Unions have been told about the decision and the bank is also expected to hold talks with the federal government.
The Age says NAB does not intend to move its entire IT operations offshore and will not be transferring customer-facing operations such as call centres.
Last week The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said it was in preliminary discussions with the Reserve Bank of India about acquiring a stake in a local bank in Bangalore to try and tap IT professionals.