SBT launches mobile payment service facility

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has launched Inter Bank Mobile Payment Service facility.  This is a unique facility managed by the National Payment Corporation of India for transferring money between bank accounts, using mobile phones and mobile banking facility.  This facility enables a customer having mobile banking facility to transfer funds to the account of any other beneficiary, either with the same bank or with another bank, on a 24 x 7 basis.  The beneficiary should have a unique seven-digit number...

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IRDA may scrap highest NAV guaranteed products

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is considering withdrawing highest net asset value (NAV) guaranteed products.  Highest NAV-guaranteed products assure to pay the highest value the fund achieves during a certain period, say, seven or ten years. The regulator has been expressing concern on such products as insurers have to take risks by investing in stocks to maintain that NAV consistently.  “Yes, we are considering. We have not really issued any orders but we are actively considering it,” said...

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SBT launches month-long KYC campaign

  State Bank of Travancore has launched a month-long campaign highlighting the need for updating of Know Your Customer documents.  This is being done with a view to creating awareness among customers about the need to update KYC details, an SBT spokesman said here.  Directives of the Reserve Bank of India and the Centre require that all bank accounts be KYC-compliant by June 30.  KYC documents, such as ID proof, address proof and latest photograph, will be collected from all customers who have not submitted...

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Fitch downgrades Indian Bank to negative

Global rating agency Fitch today downgraded state-run Indian Bank credit outlook to negative from stable. It, however, affirmed the Chennai-based bank's national long-term rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and national short-term rating at A1+. "The risk is somewhat mitigated by the bank's reasonable standalone financials, including robust core capitalisation, falling, though above-average profitability and stable funding and liquidity profile, which explains the stable outlook on the national long-term rating that is one notch below the highest...

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Top SEBI babu arrested on bribe charge

CBI has arrested a deputy general manager of Securities and Exchange Bureau of India (SEBI) and a middleman on bribery charges. SEBI had barred an Ahmedabad-based share trading company from trading in September 2011 for alleged market manipulation using Global Depository Receipts (GDR) issues and initiated an enquiry against the firm. "The DGM rank official of SEBI who was conducting investigation had issued show cause notice to the firm of the complainant. Meanwhile, the complainant came in contact with the middleman based in Mumbai who assured...

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Deutsche Bank aims to be among top 6 global lenders: Anshu Jain

Deutsche Bank's new leaders said on Friday they intended Germany's flagship lender to be among the world's top global banks as the sector consolidates. Speaking to staff on his first day as co-Chief Executive, Anshu Jain took a swipe at Swiss and French competitors by saying Deutsche would likely be the only "truly global" bank from continental Europe, a person familiar with the meeting told Reuters. Although Deutsche Bank is dwarfed by banks from China, Brazil and Russia and is ranked around 24th largest lender by market value, its geographical...

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Reserve Bank launches 28th inflation expectations survey

The Reserve Bank launched the 28th round of its annual inflation expectation survey on Friday. The survey will help the central bank with monetary policy formation. The survey, based on individual consumption patterns, will be conducted across 4000 households spread over 12 cities. Beaumont Consultancy Services from Mumbai will conduct this survey on behalf of the Reserve Bank. The Survey will seek qualitative responses from households on price changes (general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the next three months as well...

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DK Mehrotra takes over as LIC chairman

Mr D.K. Mehrotra took charge as Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India on Thursday. He headed the corporation as Current-in-charge Chairman during the last year. Mr Mehrotra joined Life Insurance Corporation of India as a Direct Recruit Officer in Jamshedpur Division in 1977. He has been the Managing Director of LIC since 2005. He has held important portfolios such as Investment, Personnel, Information Technology, Actuarial, Engineering, International Operations, Corporate Communications etc. LIC’s market share in premium stands at...

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J&K Bank reworks wholesale lending strategy

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has revamped its wholesale banking strategy to increase its emphasis on working capital finance as against term loans. Keeping in mind the slowdown and challenges in the economic and business environment, the bank will be selective in extending project finance assistance. While the earlier focus was on term loans, it will now be on working capital and fee-based income. But, this did not mean that the bank would stop long-term funding. It would continue to look for opportunities in project and term-lending space, said Mushtaq...

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IRDA issues draft norms on health insurance

In a bid to strengthen the health insurance industry, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has laid down terms and conditions for health insurance such as entry age, claim settlement period and specific reasons for denial of claim. The regulator has said that companies will have to provide health insurance for up to 65 years and that it should be renewed for life once it is accepted and premium is paid regularly. Life insurers can offer products with four-year term while non-life companies can offer up to three years. The regulator...

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UCO Bank stops lending to power, road, realty sectors

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has put a halt on lending to power, road and real estate sectors. The bank also plans to do selective lending to sectors like iron and steel and textiles to de-risk its portfolio. “If economic growth slows down then there could be some stress on assets. So we have decided to go slow on certain sectors,” said Mr Prabir K Datta, General Manager, Flagship Corporates, UCO Bank. The bank is also taking corrective measures to improve its skewed loan book which has very high exposure to large corporates. “No bank can sustain with...

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Corporation Bank cuts home, vehicle loan rates

Corporation Bank has reduced interest rates on home and vehicle loans with effect from June 1. The reduction varies from 10 basis points to 75 basis points for different tenors and the amount of loans sanctioned. Following are the floating rates of interest for home loans. For loans up to 10 years tenor, the new rate will be 10.50 per cent for amount up to Rs 25 lakh; 10.75 per cent for loans above Rs 25 lakh and up to Rs 50 lakh; and 11 per cent for loans above Rs 50 lakh and up to Rs 1 crore; and 11.25 per cent for loans above Rs 1 crore. (Previously,...

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Lakshmi Vilas Bank Q4 net falls 9%

The net profit for Lakshmi Vilas Bank dropped by 9 per cent to Rs 24.96 crore, while its business grew 32 per cent during the last quarter of 2011-12. Calling it a year of mixed performance, Mr P R Somasundaram, Chief Executive of LVB, said, “It has also been a year of consistent growth amidst challenges. While there is huge satisfaction, there is some disappointment as well. I am happy because few fundamentals have been addressed, but there is a setback on account of some temporary NPAs.” “We raised Rs 250 crore tier II capital during the fourth...

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SBI makes highest-ever recovery of Rs 1,000 cr

Taking a que from Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who expressed concern on Monday over the asset quality of the banks, the country's largest public sector Bank State Bank of India (SBI) today said it will bring down its net NPA to 1.62% during this fiscal, from 1.8% now. To achieve this target, the Bank has constituted a Stressed Asset Management Group, which so far made a cash recovery of around Rs 1,000 crore in one year, the highest in the bank's cash recovery history, according to State Bank of India (SBI's) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri. He...

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SBI to cut interest rates on loans for small units

State Bank of India plans to cut interest rates by 2 to 5 percentage points for the SME (small and medium enterprises) sector. The bank's Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, said it wants to focus more on this sector in order to bring about some balance between its SME loan portfolio and home loan portfolio. At present, the interest rates for the SME sector hover in the range of 12-17 per cent and this will be brought down to 10-12 per cent, he said. The new interest rates will come into force from the first week of June, he said. Currently, the SME...

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RBI cancels Chatrapur co-op bank licence

The Reserve Bank has cancelled the licence granted to Chatrapur Co-operative Bank Ltd, Chatrapur, Odisha. With the cancellation of its licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors will be set in motion subject to the terms and conditions of the Deposit Insurance Scheme. The RBI said that the bank had ceased to be solvent and with all efforts to revive it having failed and the depositors being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty, the RBI delivered the order cancelling its licence after the close of...

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RBS unit launches wealth planning services

RBS Wealth Division, a part the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, today announced the launch of wealth planning services in India. The service will offer customised solutions to clients to meet their long-term plans for structuring of assets, protection and transmission of wealth. It complements their existing banking and investment services offerings, as part of a comprehensive wealth management proposition. The services will include advice in the areas of succession planning, asset preservation, asset consolidation, and philanthropy. Mr Shiv Gupta,...

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Karnataka banks fix priority credit target at Rs 48,612 crore

The SLBC (State-level Bankers' Committee) Karnataka has fixed an annual credit target of Rs 48,612 crore under priority sector credit for 2012-13. According to Mr M.G. Sanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director of Syndicate Bank, and Chairman – SLBC Karnataka, the target is, however, subject to review when Nabard receives the priority sector target for the State fixed by the Union Government, and would be taken up for modification. Total disbursalsBanks in Karnataka disbursed Rs 55,231 crore under priority sector credit during 2011-12 against the...

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ICICI Bank is now top arranger of bond issues

ICICI Bank has emerged as the top arranger of domestic bond issues. The country’s largest private sector bank was the number-one arranger in 2011-12, helping India Inc raise close to Rs 1,04,569 crore via bonds and non-convertible debentures, almost half the funds raised by local companies through this route, according to data with Prime Database Group. The bank participated in 123 transactions, 26 more than it did in the previous financial year. ICICI Bank was followed by Axis Bank, which was top in the arrangers’ league table in 2010-11. ICICI...

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RBI eases banks' short term deposit restrictions

The Reserve Bank of India has removed restrictions imposed on banks which earlier prevented lenders from levying penalty on customers for foreclosure of some term deposits. The central bank said, in a notification issued on Monday, banks can formulate their own interest rate policies on foreclosure of term deposits for better asset-liability management. Earlier, the RBI had said banks cannot impose penalty on customers by reducing interest rates due on the term deposit provided the individual reinvests the money in another scheme which is longer...

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RBI asks cooperative banks to formulate norms for conversion of FDs

Reserve Bank permitted cooperative banks to formulate policies to check the practice of premature conversion of fixed deposits into other deposit schemes by customers with a view to obtaining higher interest rates. "In order to facilitate better Asset Liability Management (ALM), it has been decided to permit banks to formulate their own policies towards conversion of deposit with immediate effect", RBI said in a notification. Under the current norms, a customer can make pre-mature withdrawal of fixed deposit to invest the amount into other schemes...

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India Post to foray into core banking solution, set up ATMs in Assam

India Post will to soon take to core banking solution and set up 24 ATMS in Assam. The department will install these ATMs by this fiscal year. This project is a part of pilot project which India Post has taken up in six states of country. These include Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharastra and Rajasthan. Director postal services (headquarter), Pawan Kumar Singh said, "We are trying if Assam becomes the first state to roll out ATMs under the India Post and take to core banking solution." There are 4006 post offices across Assam....

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Nabard FY14 operating surplus soars 28 pc to Rs 1,635 cr

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard)  reported 27.81 per cent jump in net operating surplus at Rs 1,635 crore for the last fiscal, against Rs 1,279.21 crore in the previous financial year. Serving special needs, the bank ploughs back the surpluses in its reserves and other funds and does not pass on anything to the government which owns 99 per cent stake in it with the remaining 1 per cent being held by the RBI, the bank said in a statement issued here. A Bill is pending in Parliament to allow the RBI to divest...

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Federal Bank pact with Bangalore Metro for automatic fare collection

Federal Bank will be the merchant bank for automatic fare collection for 13 stations of the northern reach of Bangalore's ‘Namma Metro'. Northern reachThe northern reach is expected to be commissioned in December this year. The bank, which exchanged an MoU with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on Monday, will provide the required top-up facility for all smart card users of Namma Metro. The 12.4-km northern reach stretches from Sampige Road to Nagasandra. Mr Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director and CEO, Federal Bank, said that the bank was keen...

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Syndicate Bank briefs customers about e-products

Syndicate Bank had recently conducted a uniform customers' meet across over 2750 of its branches across the country. As a part of this programme, the NS Road-Kolkata branch of the Bank had organized a meeting on May 23 to brief its customers on the performance highlights of the bank for the financial year 2011-12. At the customer meet, the bank educated its customers about the various products and offerings like SyndArogya, UniHome Care, UniStudy Care Policies, the advantageous features of NEFT and RTGS and the new initiatives for e-products....

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SBI plans $1 billion medium-term notes issue by August

State Bank of India plans to come out with a medium-term notes (bonds) issue worth about $1 billion before August. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of a CSR event at the Bangalore circle office here on Monday, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, Chairman, SBI, said that the bank has time till August to come out with a medium-term notes issue. On the size of the issue, he said whenever SBI has gone to the markets in the past, it has been for about $1 billion. “The issue is for our overseas operations,” he said, adding that preparation for the issue was...

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Current account deficit will see a dip in the short term: Kotak Bank chief

Current account deficit will see a dip to about 3 per cent in the short-term owing to falling crude oil prices and drop in gold imports, said Mr Uday Kotak, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank. Addressing a banking and financial services (BFSI) conference here, Mr Kotak said the rupee is making the Indian companies more competitive. There is no significant spread of credit problems to different sectors of the industry. “Any further policy measure will be derivatives of the currency movement,” he added....

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Axis Bank ties up with Bahrain bank for NRI remittances

Private sector lender Axis Bank announced its tie up with Ahli United Bank B.S.C., Bahrain for remitting money from Bahrain to any person in India. The agreement will provide money transfer services to NRIs in Bahrain using the internet banking platform MyE-Bank. Such remittances would be processed and disbursed to the intended beneficiaries holding an account with Axis Bank or any of more than 83,000 NEFT-enabled branches of over 100 other banks in India. There is no limit on the number of transactions that can be initiated under this arrangement. Currently,...

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Unitech accuses Deutsche Bank of selling ‘unsuitable' interest swap

Real estate player Unitech has become the latest company to seek compensation in the UK over the sale of a controversial type of interest rate derivative product designed to protect firms against rate rises, according to reports. Unitech has accused Germany's Deutsche Bank of selling it an unsuitable interest rate swap, and not fully explaining the risks of the deal in a lawsuit lodged in the Queen's Bench Division of London's High Court of Justice this month, according to Bloomberg News. Unitech alleges that Deutsch Bank “knew, or appreciated,...

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