Vijaya Bank launches HNI branch; GenNext on radar

Public sector Vijaya Bank has cast the net for high net worth account holders even as it goes about mandatorily including the poor at the far end of business.On Friday, it launched the first of its planned 24x7 HNI branches, branded Vijaya Samruddhi, in upscale Dollars Colony in north Bangalore.Bank officials said it would soon take some of the services to the local customers’ doorsteps.Next on the bank’s radar is GenNext, the public sector bank's chairman and managing director, Mr H.S. Upendra Kamath, told Business Line after the launch.An...

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SIDBI to hire experienced bankers, CAs on contract basis

The employability of job seekers is an issue that captains of industry invariably concerned about. They feel that job applicants are not industry-ready, necessitating the need to invest quite a bit on training. To tide over this sticky issue, SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) has proposed to hire experienced chartered accountants and retired bankers on contract for jobs that require certain skills. Mr Ram Nath, Chief General Manager, SIDBI, said, “We are trying to enter the loan syndication space in a big way and are in the...

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Kotak Bank sees stress in select loan segments

Kotak Mahindra Bank is seeing some stress on its loans to the commercial vehicles, construction equipment (CVCE) industry.The bank’s President and Group CFO, Mr Jaimin Bhatt, told Business Line that while there were some incipient signs of a build up of non-performing loans in the ‘commercial vehicles’ sub-segment, the bank had actually booked some NPAs in the construction equipment area.Kotak Mahindra Bank has a loan exposure of about Rs 8,200 crore to the CVCE industry.When small truck operators delay paying their loan instalments, it means...

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United Bank of India to hire 900 this fiscal

United Bank of India is planning to hire close to 900 employees by the end of this fiscal.“We will recruit 400 probationary officers and 500 clerical staff in 2012-13,” Mr Bhaskar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, UBI, told newspersons here on Friday.He was speaking at an interactive session on the role of banking sector in promoting economic growth organised by MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.Talking about the bank’s financial inclusion plans, Mr Sen said: “As on March 31, 2012, we have reached out to 1,106 villages with our services....

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Now, IRDA helps you choose best insurance deals

Who offers the best deal for your car insurance? If you want to know this or make a comparison of the products of various insurers, all you have to do is click on the regulator’s Web site.The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has introduced an online application that enables the user to compare coverages, exclusions, and so on.The facility, now available through a link on its portal www.irda.gov.in, allows users to browse through the different features of the products.“This application has been developed with the objective...

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Karnataka Bank Q1 net jumps 67.6% on strong growth in core business

Growth in core business helped Karnataka Bank record a 67.6 per cent growth in net profit in the first quarter of 2012-13.The bank registered a net profit of Rs 83.43 crore in the first quarter against Rs 49.78 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.Speaking to Business Line after the board meeting here on Friday, Mr P. Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, said that the healthy growth in core business coupled with good recoveries enabled the bank attain the present level of performance.The...

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RBI brings more services under priority sector lending

Foreign banks having 20 or more branches in India will be brought on a par with domestic banks for fulfilling priority sector lending targets in a phased manner.They will have to achieve the target over a maximum period of five years starting April 1, 2013, according to Reserve Bank of India’s revised guidelines on priority sector lending (PSL).These banks will be required to submit an action plan for achieving the targets over a specific timeframe to be approved by the RBI. The PSL target for Indian banks is set at 40 per cent of their adjusted...

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Kotak Bank’s Q1 profit growth slows to 12% on higher provisioning

Higher provisioning towards advances and receivables tempered Kotak Mahindra Bank’s standalone profit. The bank said net interest margins could come under pressure going ahead.The bank reported a 12 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 282 crore in the April-June period against Rs 252 crore in the year-ago period.Provisioning towards advances and receivables were at Rs 52 crore in the Q1 FY13 against Rs 13 crore in the year-ago period.Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) increased by 27 per cent to...

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New norms for traditional life insurance products soon: IRDA chief

The insurance regulator has formed a joint working group with Life Insurance Council on norms for traditional products.“The group has already commenced work and had two rounds of discussions. It will give its recommendations soon,” Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, told Business Line here on Thursday.The Authority is in the process of framing a new set of guidelines for traditional life insurance products. “This can be expected very soon,” Mr Hari Narayan said.The regulator sees lack of clarity in...

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PNB cheque truncation system in Kerala

Punjab National Bank has introduced cheque truncation system in its clearing cells at Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.Mr K.V. Rajesh, deputy general manager and circle head, said that PNB is the first public sector bank to introduce this facility in India.In the present system of MICR cheque clearing, cheques are required to be physically moved from place to place and presented at the branch where they are payable. Under the cheque truncation system, images of the instruments and the corresponding data contained in MICR line is captured...

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Union to protest SBI move to do away with business facilitators

The All-India Business Facilitators Union plans to stage a demonstration against the State Bank of India’s decision to discontinue the practice of appointing individual business facilitators.Business facilitators are responsible for the identification of borrowers, collection and preliminary processing of loan applications, creating awareness about savings and other products, submission of applications to banks; post-sanction monitoring, and follow-up for recovery.Close to 1,000 individual business facilitators, who are also members of the...

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Will get to the bottom of HSBC issue, says Home Secretary

India will get to the bottom of alleged violation of safety compliance on money laundering and terrorist financing by HSBC staff in the country, a top Government official has said.An investigation report of the US Senate Permanent Sub-committee has revealed that the banking major had failed to prevent money laundering by drug cartels and terrorist into US and other countries. It has been found that HSBC’s anti-money laundering compliance department, which included employees in India, was highly inadequately staffed.“I think this is a very serious...

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IOB to raise $500 m to fund overseas business

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) plans to raise $500 million (around Rs 2,750 crore at the current exchange rate) through the issue of medium term notes in 3-6 months.According to Mr M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director, IOB, the amount would be used to fund the bank’s overseas operations.“A number of Indian corporates need funds for their overseas operations. The amount raised through the MTN issue will be lent as medium term loans (5-6 years) to these corporates,” Mr Narendra told newspersons on the sidelines of a banking conclave organised...

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Central Bank to open 25 new branches in Punjab, Haryana

The Central Bank of India plans to open 25 new branches in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir during 2012-13. At present the total number of branches in this zone comprising four states is 302.The Central bank would also add 150 more ATMs in this zone during this period according to the Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank, M.V.Tanksale.Tanksale who was here today to launch “Cent Premium Scheme” of the Bank told that “total branches of Central Bank across country at present were 4021 and the bank plans to open 250...

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StanChart sells distressed assets worth Rs 1,000 cr

Standard Chartered Bank, the largest foreign bank in the country in terms of branch presence, has sold Rs 900-1,000 crore of distressed assets to Mumbai-based International Asset Reconstruction Company (IARC), in an all-cash deal.This took place in two tranches and was one of the largest deals in the asset reconstruction space in recent months, industry players said.“Barring two or three accounts, the assets were purchased for cash considerations. We have started recovery in some of these accounts. The progress is reasonably good so far,” Birendra...

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Is Citi planning Facebook banking?

Citigroup, the global banking giant has turned to the social media to gauge the public mood on offering banking transactions through Facebook, a service already being offered by ICICI Bank.US-based Citi attracted the attention of hundreds of people within minutes of it posting messages on social networking platforms Twitter and Facebook last night about banking services on Facebook.“If you could do your banking on Facebook - Would you?,” Citi asked on its official Twitter and Facebook pages, evoking mixed reactions most of which was directed...

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South Indian Bank plans to raise Rs 500-cr via QIP

South Indian Bank on Monday said it will raise up to Rs 500 crore through private placement of shares.The board has decided to raise the paid up capital by way of a QIP (qualified institutional placement) issue of equity shares with an issue size (including premium) not exceeding Rs 500 crore, South Indian Bank informed the BSE.The number and price of the equity shares to be issued as well as the time of the issue to be decided later, it sai...

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Kotak Life launches assured protection plan

Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd (Kotak Life Insurance)  launched its ‘assured protection plan’.Kotak Assured Protection Plan, a protection-cum-savings product, will provide death cover (natural causes), against accidental death, premium waiver in the case of accidental disability during the premium paying term and critical illness cover for 12 illnesses prior to attaining the age of 70.The plan provides cover till the attainment of 75 years.Further, the plan provides the full sum assured at the end of the policy term. In the...

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Lakshmi Vilas Bank cuts deposit rates

Lakshmi Vilas Bank has effected a downward revision on deposits with a term period of one to two years with immediate effect. The domestic term deposit rate as also the NRE term deposit rate has been slashed by 0.20 per cent for the one to two year term.  From the earlier level of 10.25 per cent for senior citizens and 10 per cent for the others, the rate on domestic term deposits now stands reduced to 10.05 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively. The NRE term deposit, which was earlier fetching the investor a return at 10 per cent...

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DCB net zooms on higher income, lower provisions

Higher income and lower provisions helped Development Credit Bank (DCB) report a 111 per cent jump in net profit in April-June.In the reporting period, the private sector bank, which has 86 branches spread across 13 States and two Union Territories, reported a net profit of Rs 19 crore, against Rs 9 crore in the year-ago period.As on June-end, the bank’s deposits grew by 14 per cent year-on-year to Rs 6,829 crore (Rs 5,980 crore). Advances grew by 29 per cent to Rs 5,449 crore (Rs 4,234 crore).“We have made a good start to FY2013. We aim to...

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South Indian Bank Q1 net up 49.17%

The South Indian Bank has registered a 49.17 per cent growth in net profit in Q-1 at Rs 123.04 crore against Rs 82.49 crore for the corresponding period.The total business had also gone up by Rs 10,729 crore from Rs 53,733 crore to Rs 64,502 crore during the period, registering a growth of 19.95 per cent.The total deposit increased by Rs 5,531 crore from Rs 31,622 crore to Rs 37,153 crore, registering a growth of 17.49 per cent. The advances increased by Rs 5,198 crore from Rs 22,151 crore to Rs 27,349 crore, registering a growth of 23.47 per...

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‘RBI serves the nation, not the Govt’

The Reserve Bank of India’s Governor has a responsibility to speak up. As a public servant, he owes his loyalty to the country and the Constitution — and not just to a government in transit, the Governor, Dr D. Subbarao, said. He was quoting the late I.G. Patel, a former RBI governor, while speaking at the launch of a collection of the latter’s essays — Of Economics, Politics and Development.At the same time, central bankers have to be sensitive to the democratic milieu in which they function. Governors must choose their issues carefully and...

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Card-fee suit: Visa, MasterCard to pay

Credit card giants Visa and MasterCard agreed to pay more than USD 6 billion to millions of merchants which had sued them for allegedly fixing card-use fees.In a negotiated settlement to resolve the seven-year-old case, Visa agreed to pay USD 4.03 billion to settle the class-action lawsuit while MasterCard and banks that issue cards and were also part of the suit will pay USD 2.02 billion Friday, according to documents filed in federal court in New York.The two will also have to cut their so-called "swipe" fees for eight months that could give...

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Over Rs 1cr swindled from pvt bank ATMs

A man entrusted with the responsibility of loading cash into ATMs of a private bank allegedly swindled over Rs 1 crore from various such machines in the city, police said on Saturday.Officials of an Axis Bank's branch in the area registered a police complaint last night claiming that Rs 1.16 crore had been stolen from nearly half a dozen ATM outlets in various parts of the city, police said.The bank officials alleged that a man named Bhupesh Kumar, who used to load cash into the ATMs of the bank, on Wednesday suddenly went missing and switched...

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Robust 1st quarter results for HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest in the private sector, has reported a 30.6 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,417 crore for the quarter ended June, as compared to Rs 1,085 crore a year earlier, on the back of robust loan growth and higher fee income.Loan growth of 21.5 per cent has helped its net interest income, or the difference between interest income and interest expense, to post a 22.3 per cent growth to Rs 3,484 crore during the three-month period.The net interest margin improved sequentially as well as year-on-year, by...

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SBI to open 56 ultra small branches in Assam and Manipur

In a attempt to take forward financial inclusion,India's largest banker, State Bank of India (SBI) will open up 56 Ultra Small Branches (USB) in 5 districts of Assam and one district of Manipur by the end of this month.SBI has also planned to complete 100 USB within July 31, 2012 and convert all the Customers Service Points of State Bank of India into USB in a phased manner during the current financial year.Ultra Small Branch is a new concept where a Business correspondent/Customer Service Points (BC/CSP) operates with their infra-structures...

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