Knowledge helpline for SBI staff launched

Reserve Bank Governor D. Subbarao launched a ‘knowledge helpline’ for the staff of State Bank of India. The Web-based service, will be useful to the employees to get their doubts clarified about banking and in turn be more helpful to the customer in their service. The RBI Governor, who also inaugurated the “Swarn Udyan” and the renovated hostel blocks was the chief guest at the golden jubilee celebrations of the State Bank Staff College here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, he said banks have to regain the trust and confidence of people....

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Bank of India to focus on retail and SME sectors

Bank of India on Friday said it plans to shift its focus from large and mid-corporates to retail as well as small and medium enterprises (SME) sector.“At present, we have 16 per cent business from mid-corporates and 48 per cent from large corporates. We want to consciously reduce it. We feel that together it should be 50 per cent. We want to achieve this over a period,” Bank of India (BoI) Executive Director M S Raghavan told reporters here.Presently, the large and mid-corporate business constitutes 64 per cent of the bank’s overall portfolio...

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SKS Micro pares Q1 loss to Rs 39 crore

SKS Microfinance Ltd has registered a loss of Rs 39 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against a loss of Rs 219 crore in the comparative quarter of last fiscal.However, the company said it has narrowed the losses compared to the last quarter of fiscal 2011-12, when it was Rs 329 crore.The revenues of company fell to Rs 79 crore during first quarter compared to Rs 177 crore in the comparative quarter of last year.In a press release, the company said its revenues for non-Andhra Pradesh States increased by 11 per cent to Rs 79 crore during the...

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Interest income lifts United Bank net 32% in first quarter

Backed by growth in both interest and non-interest incomes, United Bank of India posted 32 per cent increase in net profit during the first quarter of this fiscal.Net interest income grew by 20 per cent to Rs 684 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2012, compared with the same period last year.According to Bhaskar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, United Bank, apart from posting a healthy growth in interest and non-interest income, the bank has also been able to curtail its operating expenditure.“This has helped boost our net profit,”...

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E-payments have not penetrated deep enough, says Subbarao

RBI Governor D. Subbarao said India needs to proactively shift from cash to electronic payment systems.“Large value payments have mostly shifted to the electronic mode, possibly because of the regulatory fiat. Disappointingly, retail payment systems continue to be paper-centric and electronic systems have not penetrated deep enough,” he said at the IDBRT Banking Technology Awards function here on Friday.When compared with other emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico and Russia, the value of bank notes and coins in circulation in India is high,...

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State Bank of India has launched a mobile payment service where customers can now book railway tickets over the IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) Web site and pay through SBI. Customers can download the application from the SBI’s site and register it at an ATM or any SBI branch and make payments using the Interbank Mobile Payments Service (IMPS). After booking the tickets on the IRCTC site, the customer can opt to pay through mobile/Net banking, choose IMPS and enter his/ her mobile number, MMID (Mobile Money ID) and one-time password, which can be obtained through mobile banking application/contact centre. beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

State Bank of India has launched a mobile payment service where customers can now book railway tickets over the IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) Web site and pay through SBI.Customers can download the application from the SBI’s site and register it at an ATM or any SBI branch and make payments using the Interbank Mobile Payments Service (IMPS). After booking the tickets on the IRCTC site, the customer can opt to pay through mobile/Net banking, choose IMPS and enter his/ her mobile number, MMID (Mobile Money ID) and one-time...

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RBI's cap on loan-to-value at 60% for gold loan has hit NBFCs, according to their first quarter results. The gold loan assets of major financiers like Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance have dropped. The companies are going slow on expansion and are planning cost cutting measures.Muthoot Finance, the largest gold loan company in the country, has recorded a 5% dip in the gold loan assets for the first quarter. The gold loan outstanding stood at Rs 23,082 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 -- down from Rs 24,417 crore in the same period...

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SBI cuts rates for deposits of over 5 years

State Bank of India has cut the interest rate on domestic term deposits of five years and above to 8.5 per cent. This move comes on the heels of the bank slashing interest rates on home and auto loans.So far, term deposits (with tenures of five years and more) up to Rs 15 lakh and between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 1 crore carried interest rates of 8.75 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.The deposit and loan rate cuts come in the wake of the Reserve Bank of India cutting by one percentage point the statutory liquidity ratio to 23 per cent on Tuesday.The...

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ATMs may come loaded with more features

Third party service providers are now seeking to incorporate special features in ATMs to meet the transaction needs of specific regions.This comes in the wake of nine service providers winning auction bids to set up a pan-India network of about 62,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) on behalf of public sector banks.Tata Communications Banking InfraSolutions (TCBIL), US-based NCR Corporation and Mphasis are some of the service providers which have won contracts to set up ATMs across States and Union Territories.TCBIL on Wednesday announced...

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Corp Bank opens new branch

Corporation Bank opened a branch at B.C.Road town in Dakshina Kannada district on Wednesday.Ajai Kumar, CMD of the bank, said on the occasion that the bank focussed on increasing its outreach through extensive expansion of branch network and embarking on financial inclusion in a big way.The bank has 1,554 branches, 1,279 ATMs and 3,390 branchless banking units. It controls its operations through 31 zones spread across the country. The Mangalore zonal office of the bank has 47 branches....

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YES Bank’s overseas debt offering gets ‘significant’ commitments

Private lender YES Bank on Thursday said it had received commitments of $155 million and €50 million for its dual currency syndicated loan facility.As many as 14 banks from nine countries have given commitments for this facility, the bank said in a statement.This is a plain vanilla borrowing for the bank and would not form part of its tier-II capital. The debt funds raised will be used for general corporate purposes and trade finance.In rupee terms, this syndicated loan facility, which will have a maturity of one year, will result in the bank...

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SBI cuts home, car loan rates

State Bank of India has cut home loan and car loan rates. This could trigger a rate war among banks to attract retail customers as loans to the industry have slackened.SBI’s rate cut gambit comes in the wake of the RBI effecting a one percentage point cut in the statutory liquidity ratio on Tuesday. The SLR cut is seen allowing banks the cushion of additional liquidity.India’s largest bank has cut home loans by up to 0.60 percentage points and car loans by 0.50 percentage points.The interest rate on home loans up to Rs 30 lakh will be 10.25...

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PNB hikes interest rate on domestic deposits of 1-year maturity

Punjab National Bank has hiked the interest rate on single domestic term deposits of less than Rs 1 crore from 8.75 per cent to 9 per cent for a maturity of one year.The revised rate would be effective from Thursday, the bank said in a filing with the stock exchange in Mumbai.This rate of 9 per cent will also be applicable to NRE term deposits.srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in...

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NHB slashes refinance rates for low-income housing

Urban low-income housing may soon get a boost with the housing finance regulator, National Housing Bank (NHB), slashing refinance rates on loans up to Rs 5 lakh.This would incentivise primary lending institutions such as banks and housing finance companies to lend more to low-income households — those not having income above Rs 15,000 a month — and also those in the informal sector.The benefits of lower refinance rates are likely to be passed on to the ultimate borrowers in the low-income groups, who will now get longer tenure loans at lower...

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Karnataka Bank inks pact with Nabard arm for consultancy service

Karnataka Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nabard Consultancy Services (Nabcons) for providing services to clients referred by Karnataka Bank.According to a press release, the clients can get help in the preparation of techno-economic appraisal and feasibility reports, and detailed project reports for investments in agriculture and allied activities.The collaboration would include services of Nabcons in the field of microfinance, women empowerment, training, capacity building, periodic monitoring, and so on. The MoU would...

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HDFC Bank is now one of the most valuable in the world, beats biggies like BofA, BNP Paribas

For most banks across the globe, the past five years have been a battle for survival with many falling by the wayside and others becoming wards of the state. In late 2008, India was also not immune with ICICI Bank, the nation's second largest, experiencing some jitters. But one lender which has remained immune to the troubles swirling around the sector is HDFC Bank. With a market capitalisation of Rs 1,38,469 crore (or $24.88 billion) on Tuesday, HDFC Bank has surpassed the biggest lender in the nation - State Bank of India - which has deposits...

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SLR cut will help improve liquidity in the system: Corporation Bank

Corporation Bank has said that the RBI’s move to cut SLR will help improve liquidity in the system.The Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank, Mr Ajai Kumar, told Business Line that liquidity will further improve in the system, and interest rates may see some respite.“As far as our bank is concerned, we will have a liquidity addition of around Rs 1,400 crore,” he said.Stating that Rs 60,000 crore will be released at the industry level, Mr Kumar said this may be used for credit expansion. “However, credit offtake would depend on...

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IDBI Bank Q1 net rises 27% at Rs 427 cr

IDBI Bank posted 27.5 per cent rise in its net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012, at Rs 427.34 crore.Its net profit over the corresponding period (April-June) a year ago stood at Rs 335.10 crore, the Bank said in a BSE filing.The total income of the bank rose to Rs 6,786.81 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 from Rs 6,059.83 crore a year earlie...

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SLR cut to release Rs 62,000 cr; banks may lower loan rates

Banks may cut retail lending rates. This is thanks to the Reserve Bank of India cutting a key reserve ratio. The RBI, on Tuesday, surprisingly cut the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), which requires banks to park a slice of their deposits in Central and State government securities, from 24 per cent to 23 per cent.The SLR cut can enhance liquidity in the system by about Rs 62,000 crore. This has to be seen in the context of deposit growth lagging credit expansion and the need for creating capacity among banks to handle possible liquidity pressures.Banks...

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Monetary policy: RBI leaves key rates unchanged; surprises with SLR cut

The RBI has maintained status quo and left its key policy rates unchanged.The repo rate remains at 8 per cent. The RBI had given a hint of this even yesterday while releasing its review of macroeconomic and monetary developments. Practically throwing up its hands, it had laid the onus on the Central Government to do the needful on the fiscal side.It had noted that "monetary policy space needs to be created through fiscal adjustment and structural measures to improve supply conditions and boost the investment climate, so the revival is supported...

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Allahabad Bank Q1 net up 23% as core biz, recoveries improve

Backed by growth in core operations and improved recovery, Allahabad Bank posted a 23 per cent rise in net profit during the first quarter of this fiscal.Net interest income grew 11 per cent to Rs 1,306 crore.The bank recovered Rs 402 crore during the quarter, which included Rs 120 crore worth fresh recovery, Rs 113 crore from upgradation and another Rs 169 crore from written-off accounts.Net interest margin (NIM) declined to 3.17 per cent (3.40 per cent). According to the bank’s chairman and managing director, Mr J. P. Dua, the bank is hopeful...

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Oriental Bank net up 10% on higher interest income, better recoveries

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has received board approval to raise capital of Rs 1,200 crore, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S. L. Bansal, said.The bank would need additional capital of Rs 800 crore to meet the Basel-III requirements, which would come into force from January 1, 2013.Mr Bansal said that OBC would go in only for tier-II capital as there was enough headroom on this front. The bank was comfortable on the tier-I front (at 9.92 per cent) even under Basel-III norms, he added.OBC would raise the required capital of Rs 800...

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Bank of Baroda Q1 profit up 10%; doubles provisioning

Bank of Baroda posted a 10 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 1,139 crore (Rs 1,033 crore) in the June quarter, even as the bank doubled provisions to cover bad loans.The provisions against non-performing assets rose 129 per cent to Rs 894 crore as compared with Rs 391 crore in first quarter of FY12. The bank’s provision-coverage ratio stood at 79.02 per cent during the quarter.Net interest income (difference between interest earned and interest expended) increased by about 22 per cent to Rs 2,798 crore from Rs 2,297 crore during the same...

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Federal Bank’s special deposit scheme

Federal Bank has decided to offer a special rate of 10 per cent for resident and non-resident deposits of 1,000 days’ maturity. The offer is for a limited period only — between July 30 and August 17. The decision marks a milestone in the bank’s growth history as it moves to dedicate its 1000th branch to the nation on August 17. A bank release says that senior citizens will get an additional interest of 0.50 percentage points over this rate, and NRIs a tax-free yield of 10 per cent....

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SKS Microfinance: The company that got too big

After a series of setbacks, SKS Microfinance has got second wind. It raised Rs 230 crore from institutional investors last week, the largest capital raising exercise for SKS since its IPO.S. Dilli Raj, Chief Financial Officer, SKS, says this qualified institutional placement (QIP) was over-subscribed and that it equips it to meet the credit requirements of its four million rural borrowers.But today the valuations are a pale shadow of what SKS commanded during its IPO two years ago – Rs 75.4 a share in the QIP, compared to Rs 985 during the...

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Syndicate Bank Q1 net up 28%

Syndicate Bank reported a 28 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, at Rs 440 crore (Rs 343 crore). This bottomline performance came on the back of sharp increase in interest income, which grew 25 per cent to Rs 4,242 crore (Rs 3,399 crore), Mr M. G. Sanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director, said here on Monday. Operating profit of the bank for the quarter under review increased 13 per cent to Rs 841 crore (Rs 743 crore). Mr Sanghvi told newspersons that the bank planned to add 300 branches this fiscal, taking...

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IOB net up 13.5% in June quarter

Indian Overseas Bank has registered a 13.5 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 233.43 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, against Rs 205.58 crore in the corresponding year-ago quarter.The total income for the quarter stands at Rs 5,403 crore against Rs 4,332 crore registered during the same period in 2011.The total business grew 23.28 per cent to Rs 3,33,248 crore from Rs 2,70,320 crore in the previous year. Total deposits were at Rs 1,84,882 crore (Rs 1,51,173 crore), and the net interest income went up by 12 per cent to Rs 1,328 crore...

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Muthoot Finance net up 29% in Q1

Gold loan company Muthoot Finance Ltd has registered 29 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 246 crore in the first quarter of 2012-12 It had netted Rs 190 crore in the corresponding year-ago period .The total income grew 41 per cent to Rs 1,294 crore, while the retail loan assets under management fell by Rs 1,337 crore to Rs 23,336 crore, a 5 per cent decline.Mr M. G. George Muthoot, Chairman, MFL, told newspersons that the operating environment has been substantially redefined on account of the restrictions imposed by the RBI on the maximum...

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Corporation Bank’s Q1 profit growth muted on higher provisioning

Corporation Bank’s net profit nudged up marginally by five per cent in the first quarter as it set aside higher amount to cover bad loans.For the April to June quarter, the public sector bank’s net profit rose to about Rs 370 crore from Rs 351 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago.Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 14 per cent to about Rs 808 crore.Provisions to cover bad loans increased by about 3.5 times to about Rs 239 crore (Rs 67 crore, year ago).The bank restructured loan accounts...

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Karnataka Bank to aid enterprises and farmers

Karnataka Bank has stressed on the need for supporting needy enterprises and agriculturists.Speaking at the conference of the regional heads of the bank, Mr P. Jayarama Bhat, managing director of the bank, said that needy enterprises are to be guided and provided with credit facilities for sustained progress.Similarly, agriculturalists are to be given financial support with special monitoring of the end use of the credit facility, he said.Firm recovery steps against wilful defaulters and prudential restructuring of genuine borrowers (defaulters)...

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