SBI’s bad loans jump in June quarter

State Bank of India’s gross NPAs increased to Rs 47,156 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs 27,768 crore during the same period last year, according to Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Diwakar Gupta.“NPAs are the biggest source of concern. A majority of these NPAs, which came from mid-corporate and SME segments, were driven by low demand, cash flow issues, inability to pass on costs and low profitability, among others,” Gupta told newspersons on the sidelines of a banking colloquium organised by the Confederation of Indian...

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Federal Bank deploys Finacle software

Federal Bank has tied up with Infosys Technologies arm Finacle to strengthen the bank’s existing authentication system for its corporate and retail Internet banking customers.The private sector bank has integrated and implemented Finacle enabled Two Factor Authentication (2FA) solution that ensures mutual strong authentication between the bank and the end-user that will enable an easy and transparent user login.This solution supports both retail and corporate Internet banking channels across multiple form factors like hardware token, software...

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5-day week mooted for banks

All India Punjab National Bank Officers Association has mooted 5-day week for bank employees in line with other public undertakings under the Union Government.K D Khera, General Secretary of the Association also expressed concern over the staff shortage in banks, which would have a direct bearing on the quality of customer service. This also affects the various social oriented schemes of the Government, he told reporters here.This will be a Key area of discussion at the 22{+n}{+d} triennial General Council Meeting of the Association to be held...

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Oxigen launches mini ATM cum point of sale device

Payments solutions provider Oxigen launched a mini ATM cum point of sale device that will enable the people living in rural areas to withdraw money from their account without visiting the bank or locate an ATM.For this Oxigen has tied-up with Chinese firm Telepower, that will design and develop a GPRS enabled point of sale (PoS) business terminal named OxiShaan.This terminal will enable the small kirana (or mom and pop shops) to function like touch point for ATM like banking services."...Masses of India will not only have benefits of ATM like banking...

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Canara Bank effects 25 bps cut in lending rates

Bangalore-based public sector lender Canara Bank has reduced interest rates by 25  basis points  across  most  slabs  under  housing  loans with rates varying from 10.50% to a maximum of 10.75% as part of its festival offer with effect from September 17, 2012. The bank has also reduced car loan rates by 25 bps with interest rates ranging from 10.75% to 11.25%. The festival offer will be on till January 31, 2013, the bank said in a statement. Source: Business Stand...

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Banks must ensure poor get loans easily: Rahul Gandhi

Amid complaints that the poor do not get loans easily unlike the rich, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said farmers and women, who were most needy, should be helped as they take the country forward. "I have been told by people that while the rich get loans easily, those who are most needy, including poor farmers and women do not...," he said inaugurating a UCO Bank branch in his Lok Sabha constituency. Before the functions, students of government girls inter college sat on dharna at Jais to protest lack of facilities and teachers. Rahul's route...

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SBI to hire 20,000 over the next one year

State Bank of India is set to expand its staff by ten per cent over the next one year. The bank is planning to add 20,000 personnel across both the officer and clerical cadres. As of June 2012, the bank had 2.14 lakh staff on its rolls.A large portion of the new recruits will be required for the 1,200 new branches that it proposes to open this year. SBI is also recruiting to get ready for the impending retirements of its existing staff. Asked about this, A. Krishna Kumar, Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking), said, “We estimate...

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Reliance MF signs distribution pact with IOB

Reliance Mutual Fund, a part of Reliance Capital, on Thursday said it has entered into a distribution tie-up with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).As per the agreement, IOB will sell Reliance MF products through its 2,689 branches.“This agreement would help us expand our customer base, especially in tier II and III cities, leveraging on the wide network of the bank,” Reliance Capital Asset Management chief executive Sundeep Sikka said.Referring to the distribution tie—up, IOB Chairman & Managing Director M Narendra said, “This would enable the...

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Karnataka Bank, NCMSL sign warehousing services deal

Karnataka Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Collateral Management Services Ltd (NCMSL) for warehousing services.Under this agreement, the bank will offer financing against the godown receipts/cold storage receipts issued by NCMSL under its ‘KBL-Krishik Bhandar’ scheme.A press release said here on Thursday that generally during harvesting season, the price of the agriculture produce will be at a lower level. Hence, farmers can store their agriculture produce in the godowns/cold storages of NCMSL.In the off-season,...

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Slowdown effect: SBI prunes home loan target to 20% this fiscal

State Bank of India has lowered its home loan growth target to 20 per cent for this fiscal, as lenders are grappling with a slowdown in the housing sector.“We have already cut interest rates. We expect credit offtake in this sector to pick up in the latter part of the year,” Pradeep Kumar, Deputy Managing Director and Group Executive of the bank, told Business Line here on Thursday.He was in Hyderabad to inaugurate the first ATM in Andhra Pradesh under the brown label arrangement, envisaging TCBIL, a Tata Group company, as the outsourcing agency....

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HDFC can deliver 18-20% loan growth with stable margins

HDFC has said that the company is well placed to deliver 18—20 per cent loan growth with stable margins and asset quality driven by growth in the smaller towns.Giving their presentation at the CLSA investor forum, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Vice Chairman and CEO Keki Mistry and MD Renu Karnad highlighted that the competitive environment has been stable and HDFC can deliver 18—20 per cent loan growth with stable margins and asset quality.At present, home ownership levels in India are under penetrated and considering the favourable demographics,...

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Religare Finvest to raise Rs 500 cr via NCDs; issue opens tomorrow

Religare Finvest, a wholly-owned NBFC subsidiary of Religare Enterprises, on Thursday said it is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore through retail issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to support its financing activities.The company will raise NCDs aggregating up to Rs 250 crore with an option to raise an equal amount in case of over-subscription, aggregating to a total of up to Rs 500 crore,” Religare Finvest Chief Executive Kavi Arora said here."The NCDs issue, which opens tomorrow for subscription, will have a coupon of 12.25 per...

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NRI deposits in banks surge six-fold in April-July

Attracted by high interest rates in their homeland, Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) are pouring money into bank deposits.In the financial year so far (April-July), NRIs have parked almost six times more money in deposits compared with the year-ago period.According to Reserve Bank of India data, NRIs made deposits aggregating $7.375 billion in banks, against $1.246 billion in the year-ago period.A break-up shows that all inflows have been into the Non-Resident (External) Rupee Accounts (NR(E)RA) deposits.However, two other NRI deposit schemes...

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UCO Bank unveils special deposit scheme

In a bid to expand its customer base and mobilise low-cost core deposits, UCO Bank has launched a special deposit scheme ‘UCO 999 Fixed Deposit Scheme’.The scheme would be available for a limited period between September 10 and October 31.The ‘UCO 999 FD Scheme’ with 999 days maturity period will help the bank mobilise medium and long-term resources, said a press statement issued by the bank.shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in...

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FinMin, SIDBI launch portal for small businesses

The Finance Ministry, in association with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has launched an online portal ‘smallB.in’ to support the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.To begin with, the Ministry will work in tandem with four banks — Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Corporation Bank and Indian Bank — to extend credit to MSMEs and prospective entrepreneurs.This initiative will be extended to a cluster of 110 specialised branches across the country, Sunil Soni, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial...

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Andhra Bank slashes interest rates on retail loans

Andhra Bank has slashed its interest rates on retail loans, deputy general manager G Ravi Kumar said on Wednesday. The rate of interest has been reduced on housing loan from 11% to 10.50% upto 30 lakhs, and above 30 lakhs from 11.25% to 10.75%, on mortgage loans from 16 pc to 15.50%, and on cars from 12.25% to 11.50%. The bank targets Rs 300 crore retail loans from Krishna district in this financial year, including Rs 100 crore worth of housing loans, Rs 50 crores for car and mortgage loans and Rs 150 crores under non agricultural gold loans,...

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Kotak Bank savings bank deposits jump 68% in Q1

Kotak Mahindra bank has seen a full 68 per cent jump in its savings bank deposits to Rs 5,540 crore thanks to its aggressive offering, following the deregulation of savings deposit interest rates, a senior bank official said on Wednesday.The savings bank deposits have grown to Rs 5,540 crore as of the June quarter from Rs 3,307 crore a year ago, bank’s executive vice-president, Virat Diwanji, said here.Following the RBI move to deregulate interest rate cap of 4 percent on the savings bank accounts last October——the last of the rates to be deregulated——a...

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ICICI Bank cuts deposit rates by 50 bps

India’s largest private bank, ICICI, cut interest rates on fixed deposits for tenures ranging from 91 days to five years by 50 basis points.Following the revision in interest rates, which is effective from September 11, the highest interest rate that the bank will pay is 8.75 per cent (9.25 per cent earlier) on deposits of 390 days to less than five years.Fixed deposits with tenure of more than 290 days but less than one year will get an interest of 7.25 per cent.Senior citizens earn 50 basis points higher interest than general customers. HDFC...

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Prepaid payment instruments yet to pick up: RBI

Growth of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) continues to be sluggish though non-bank entities also can issue them, said G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India.PPIs allow purchase of goods and services against the value stored on such instruments.The value stored on such instruments represents the value paid for by the holder, by cash, by debit to a bank account or by credit card.The issuance of PPIs during the year averaged 48.96 million, with a peak issuance of 57.46 million in July 2011.“The volume of transactions (2.3...

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Oriental Bank to offer finance for Piaggio vehicles

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has signed a preferred financier agreement with Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer of small commercial vehicles.Under this tie-up, Piaggio Vehicles customers will be able to avail themselves of vehicle finance services from any of the 1,827 branches of the bank.The memorandum of understanding was signed by Atul Gautam, General Manager, OBC, and Praveen Nagpal, Vice President, Piaggio Vehicles.Speaking on the occasion, Gautam said that the bank is expanding its operations in commercial vehicle financing....

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Ravimohan appointed RBI nominee Director of BOI

Government has nominated the Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India of Bhopal, P R Ravimohan as the RBI nominee director of Bank of India (BOI) with immediate effect.“Bank of India has informed BSE that...Government of India has nominated P R Ravimohan, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Bhopal as RBI Nominee Director of the bank in place of P K Panda with immediate effect and until further orders,” the Bank said in a BSE filing today.The shares of the bank traded at Rs 260.45 a piece on the BSE in noon trade, up 0.83 per cent from...

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HDFC inaugurates 10,000th ATM in Rajasthan

HDFC Bank, country’s leading private sector lender, today launched its 10,000th Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Rajasthan.With the inauguration of this ATM located near Ajmer Sharif Dargah, HDFC Bank is now the third Indian bank and the second Private Sector Bank to have a network of 10,000 ATMs across the country.Having a network of ATMs that are strategically located allows lakhs of customers to fulfil their banking requirements. In the near future, HDFC Bank will continue to look at expanding its ATM network further into deeper geographies,...

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United Bank cuts rates on select loans by up to 275 bps

United Bank of India has slashed interest rates on medium- and small-term loans above Rs 1 crore by 75-275 basis points.The revised rates are effective from September 10, said a press statement issued by the bank.The bank had already reduced the rates for loans below Rs 1 crore by 50-400 basis points effective August 15.United Bank has extended the concessional rate it offers to rice mills to all other agro-processing units such as flour, oil and dal mills by reducing the spread by 150-175 basis points....

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Onno Ruhl appointed World Bank Country Director for India

World Bank has appointed Onno Ruhl as the Country Director for India. He will replace Roberto Zagha who retires in October.Ruhl, a Dutch national, was previously the Director for Operations Services and Quality in the South Asia Region of the World Bank, the multi-lateral funding agency said in a statement here on Monday.“His strong experience on finance and operations, and his leadership skills, will ensure that the Bank’s strategy for India is formulated and implemented in order to support the development objectives of one of our most important...

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Five foreign consultants in race for ‘Post Bank of India’ project

The Department of Posts has issued request for proposals (RFP) to five top notch foreign consultancy firms for the proposed Post Bank of India project.The five short-listed firms are Accenture Services, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG Advisory Services and McKinsey & Co.The Department of Posts (DoP) is looking to set up a bank — Post Bank of India (PBI) — to provide banking services with special focus on rural areas.Besides providing a platform for financial inclusion, the Post Bank of India will provide means of additional...

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Exim Bank raises Rs 1,120 cr in Singapore market

Export-Import Bank of India has raised Singapore $250 million (around Rs 1,118 crore) through five-year bonds.The coupon on the bonds, which have been issued at par, is 3.375 per cent.This is the longest tenor of publicly listed Singapore dollar bonds by an Indian entity so far.According to David Rasquinha, Executive Director, Exim Bank, the resources will be utilised to support export transactions, government-backed lines of credit, trade credit, and to fund overseas acquisitions by Indian corporates.Of Exim Bank’s loan book of about $11 billion,...

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SBI to add 1,200 branches this fiscal

The State Bank of India plans to add 1,200 branches this fiscal, its Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking), A. Krishna Kumar, said. The bank had added 645 branches in fiscal 2011-12. The last fiscal was a period of consolidation after the bank had added about 1,000 branches during the preceding three fiscal years.SBI has a network of 14,127 branches (as at the end of the June 2012).Its dominance in the physical space is evident from some comparative numbers. Its nearest public sector competitor, Punjab National bank has 5,697...

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BoB cuts home loan rates by 0.25%

Bank of Baroda (BoB) today announced a 0.25 per cent reduction in home loan rates across all categories and for both new as well as existing customers, in line with its state-run peers.The new rates will be effective today, BoB said in a statement here.“To offer a stimulus to sagging demand amid the ongoing slowdown, we have reduced the interest rates on home loans by 25 bps across the board for our existing and new borrowers,” it said.The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, had last month taken everybody by surprise and announced...

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Finance ministry wants Irda to double insurers' equity play limit

The finance ministry is coaxing the insurance regulator to double insurers' equity exposure limit in a company, ostensibly to make disinvestment a success without drawing criticism that state-run entities violate prudential measures to bail out the government.The demand, if accepted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda), will increase the risk for insurance companies, especially Life Insurance Corporation, which has breached the limit in many state-owned companies. Officials from the ministry have been lobbying the regulator...

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Indian Bank may raise capital through FPO next fiscal

Indian Bank may come out with a follow-on public offer (FPO) next fiscal if market conditions improve, a top official said.“We do not require capital immediately...we may go in for FPO in the next fiscal (2013-14),” the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director T M Bhasin told PTI.The board has already given approval for equity dilution to the extent of 10 per cent, he said.At present, the government holds 80 per cent stake in the Chennai-headquartered bank.Shares of Indian Bank closed at Rs 163 on the BSE on Friday, valuing it at Rs 7,005 crore.Bhasin...

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LIC seeks hike in corporate investment limit to 20-25%

LIC would ideally like to have headroom of 20-25 per cent for investments in some of its investee companies. As of now, it can invest a maximum of 10 per cent in a company, and any exception to this is approved on a case-by-case basis by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).“The matter has been in discussion with the regulator for some time. Let us see how much leeway the regulator wants to give us. My only concern is that this 10 per cent includes historic holdings which we have since 1956. So, for good scrips, I should...

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Corporation Bank offers concessions on loans

Corporation Bank is offering concessions on various loan schemes offered by it for the festival season. Processing fees for loans to buy homes or vehicles and trade/business have been waived.Under this, floating rate of interest for home loans of up to Rs 50 lakh is 10.5 per cent p.a., for up to Rs 1 crore it is 10.75 per cent and for amount above this 11 per cent.Interest rate on loans for buying vehicles is 11.25 per cent for five-year tenure and 11.75 per cent for seven years.Under the Corp Doctor Plus (finance for medical professionals)...

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