UCO Bank seeks Rs 800-cr capital from Centre

Kolkata-based UCO Bank has sought Rs 800-crore capital from the Union Government to fund its growth needs and boost its capital adequacy ratio.

According to S. Chandrasekharan, Executive Director, the bank has already garnered Rs 1,000-crore worth capital by way of Tier-II bonds so far during this fiscal.

“We have asked for Rs 800 crore and we hope to get it soon,” Chandrasekharan said here on Saturday at a press meet on the occasion of its 71st Foundation Day.

The bank aims to achieve 20 per cent growth in business this year. “We aim to touch a business of Rs 3 lakh crore by March 2013,” he said.

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

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Corp Bank launches RuPay Aadhar card

Corporation Bank has launched Corp RuPay Aadhaar card.

A bank release said here that this product is primarily aimed at providing easy and hassle-free banking services to the financially excluded and underprivileged sections of the society having Aadhaar number.

The card can be used at the conventional ATMs, micro ATMs or at the handheld machines used by business correspondents and at point-of-sale terminals at merchant establishments. The fascia of the card contains the Aadhaar number and this card can be a photo card or a non-photo card, it said.

Direct cash transfer scheme

Corporation Bank is a partner in the direct cash/benefit transfer scheme launched by the Government. This scheme will enable the Government to directly credit various social security benefits and subsidies to the accounts of the citizens, the release added.

vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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LIC Housing property expo begins in Hyderabad

LIC Housing Finance Ltd is organising a two-day mega property show at Hitex in Madhapur.

“We are targeting a business of Rs 200 crore during these two days,’’ V.K. Sharma, Director and Chief Executive, LIC Housing Finance, told newspersons after inaugurating the exhibition here on Saturday.

This is the sixth annual property show organised by LIC Housing in Hyderabad. Over 50 builders have put up their stalls and there is also a facility for spot approvals. The loans are being offered at 10.25 per cent interest.

QIP issue

Meanwhile, Sharma said LIC Housing will be completing its proposed Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue to raise up to Rs 1,200 crore before the end of March. The QIP issue got delayed on a variety of reasons including market volatility.

“We are also ready to apply for External Commercial Borrowings to mobilise up to Rs 700-1,000 crore,’’ he said.

naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in

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Muthoot PAN processing centre

Muthoot Securities, promoted by Muthoot M. George Group, has tied up with UTI Infrastructure Technology and Service Ltd to act as income-tax PAN service centre.

The company will accept PAN card application through all Muthoot Finance branches. In the South, Muthoot Securities has so far issued 2,50,000 PAN cards. It is now plans to extend this service to the North-East and western States.

“There is an unfounded fear in the minds of many people that once they apply for PAN card, they will be subjected to the scrutiny of I-T Department. This has to be dispelled…”, George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director, Muthoot Finance, said in a release.

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Synd Bank biz crosses Rs 3 lakh cr

Syndicate Bank has achieved a milestone by achieving over Rs 3 lakh crore business turnover as on December 31.

At a simple ceremony, M G Sanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank thanked all the customers for their support in achieving the goal.

Later, Sanghvi, M Anjaneya Prasad and Ravi Chatterjee executive directors of the bank addressing the staff members of the bank.

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Canara Bank driving cash subsidy transfer scheme

Canara Bank is tying up with 45 other scheduled commercial banks with a presence in the State to drive the cash subsidy transfer scheme.

Archana S. Bhargava, Executive Director, Canara Bank, met Finance Minister K.M. Mani here to apprise him of the progress made.

PILOT SCHEME

Canara Bank, as convener of State-Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), is spearheading the pilot of the scheme in Wayanad and Pathanamthitta districts.

A spokesman for the bank said that the Finance Minister was appreciative of bank’s initiatives. Bhargava conveyed to the Minister the sanction of Rs 500 crore as paddy crop loan to farmers registered with Supplyco (State Civil Supplies Corporation).

The bank is extending assistance to farmers at concessional rate of four per cent for loans up to Rs 3 lakh for those with prompt repayment record.

She further announced that the bank has approved loans for unemployed youth under the Kerala State Self Entrepreneurship Development Mission at base rate.

CREDIT OFFTAKE

The bank has also taken a number of initiatives to increase credit offtake in the State of Kerala, she said. Rate of interest on education Loans has been reduced substantially. Similarly, rate for micro, small and medium sector loans too has been lowered.

Meanwhile, commercial banks in the State have disbursed Rs 34,763 crore to the priority sector during the first six months of this financial year.

This is 52 per cent of the total disbursement target of Rs 67,125 crore for 2012-2013, the 108{+t}{+h} meeting of SLBC convened here on Thursday by G. Sreeram, general manager, Canara Bank.

Total deposits as on September touched Rs 2,13,518 crore. Out of this non-resident deposits accounted for Rs 58,150 crore.

C-D RATIO

Total advances amounted to Rs 1,58,836 crore. Total advances and investments in approved securities/debentures were Rs 1,64,111 crore. The credit-to-deposit ratio touched 74.39 per cent while (credit+investment) deposit ratio stood at 76.86 per cent.

Total advances to priority sector as at September 2012 touched Rs 91,253 crore. This is 57.45 per cent of the total outstanding under advances.

The Finance Minister presided over the meeting. Among those who spoke were Agriculture Production Commissioner Subrata Biswas, Principal Secretary (Planning and Economic Affairs) V. S. Senthil, RBI Regional Director Salim Gangadharan, Nabard General Manager K.R. Rao.

vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in

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Exim Bank extends $29 m credit to Seychelles, Senegal

Export-Import (Exim) Bank of India, at the behest of the Government, has extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of $19 million to the Government of Senegal in West Africa and $10 million to the Government of Seychelles, an island in the Indian Ocean. The credit will be used for financing fisheries development projects in Senegal and import of goods and services from India for specific projects funded by Development Bank of Seychelles.

With the signing of these LoC agreements, Exim Bank has now in place 167 Lines of Credit, covering 74 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Oceania and the CIS, with credit commitments of over $8.67 billion, available for financing exports from India.

This is the third LoC extended by Exim Bank to Seychelles and the tenth to Senegal. Under the LoCs, Exim Bank reimburses 100 per cent of contract value to the Indian exporter, upfront upon the shipment of goods / provision of services.

beena.parmar@thehindu.co.in

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Vijaya Bank revises FCNR rates

Vijaya Bank has revised interest rates on FCNR (B) deposits with effect from January 1. The revised interest rates are as follows: For one year to less than two years period – £3.01 per cent, $2.84 per cent, €2.44 per cent, AU$5.68 per cent, CAD 3.95 per cent.

For two years to less than three years period - £2.72 per cent, $2.41 per cent, €2.39 per cent, AU$4.85 per cent, CAD 3.41 per cent.

For three years to less than four years period - £3.78 per cent, $3.49 per cent, €3.48 per cent, AU$5.97 per cent, CAD 4.48 per cent.

For four years to less than five years - £3.90 per cent, $3.64 per cent, €3.62 per cent, AU$6.18 per cent, CAD 4.58 per cent.

For five year period only - £4.04 per cent, $3.83 per cent, €3.78 per cent, AU$6.30 per cent, CAD 4.69 per cent.

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Oriental Bank waives penalty on premature withdrawal of FDs

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has waived penalty on premature withdrawal of fixed deposit schemes for all maturities across all slabs. This has been done to give ‘more value for money’ to the bank’s customers, said S. L. Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, OBC.

Simply put, a depositor who has parked funds in OBC’s deposit schemes can now withdraw these prematurely (say from the second day up to the 10th year, depending on maturity profile) without having to fork out any penalty.
Home loans

OBC has also made some changes to its existing home loan scheme. For loans up to Rs 30 lakh, the bank has reduced interest rates by 10 basis points to 10.4 per cent.

The margin for home loans above Rs 20 lakh has been reduced to 20 per cent from 25 per cent earlier, he said. For home loans below Rs 20 lakh, the margin will be 15 per cent.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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LIC launches two new policies

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)  launched two new policies, including a unit linked insurance plan.

Flexi Plus, a unit linked insurance product, not only provides a lump sum benefit on death but also the maturity benefit irrespective of survival of the policyholder, LIC said in a statement.

The policyholder can choose the amount of premium he/she desires to pay, depending on which equivalent level of cover will be provided. The plan aims at steady income carrying lower to medium risk, the LIC said.

The other scheme called New Jeevan Nidhi is a conventional product with profit pension plan, which provides for death cover during deferment period and offers annuity on survival to the date of vesting.

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Ashwani Kumar takes over as CMD of Dena Bank

Ashwani Kumar has taken over as Chairman and Managing Director of Dena Bank.

The Finance Ministry had notified his appointment in November 2012.

The notification said that Kumar’s appointment is for a period of five years from the date of taking charge of the post on or after January 1, 2013, or till the date of his attaining the age of superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earliest.

Prior to joining Dena Bank, he was the Executive Director of Corporation Bank since December 1, 2010.

He started his banking career as a probationary officer with Allahabad Bank in 1981.

Ramkumar.k@thehindu.co.in

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IOB board okays rights issue

The board of Indian Overseas Bank has approved a rights issue. The bank proposes to issue 20 crore equity shares of face value Rs 10 each at a premium to be decided based on the market conditions.

The bank also proposes to issue 20 crore fully convertible preference shares of face value Rs 10 each at a premium to be decided at the time of the issue.

The resolution is subject to approval by RBI and other authorities. The Government’s shareholding in the equity capital of the bank is at 69.62 per cent.

IOB shares were trading at Rs 85.70, up 0.65 per cent on the BSE.

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Deepali Joshi elevated as ED, RBI

Deepali Pant Joshi has been promoted as the Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to her elevation, she was the Regional Director of the RBI’s Rajasthan regional office. Joshi’s appointment follows the superannuation of V. K. Sharma. The RBI has nine EDs.

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SBI rolls out ‘MobiCash Easy’

State Bank of India has launched mobile wallet service MobiCash Easy on a pilot basis in Mumbai and Delhi.

The prepaid service allows customers to transfer money to any bank account or to any wallet issued by State Bank of India, pay bills, recharge mobiles, and pay for digital TV and broadband connections.

The customers can also check their balance and the last five transactions they conducted through their mobile wallet.

Both SBI and non-SBI customers can make use of this service.

The product does not require any Know-Your-Customer (KYC) compliance.

Customers can register themselves for SBMC Easy at any of the Oxigen retail outlet.

With this, SBI plans to tap the migrant population who send money home frequently.

“Even though the product can be used by any segment of the population, it is designed in such a way that it can help immensely the migrant labourers who generally do not carry any document to meet KYC compliance but always have a need to send money home,” SBI said in a statement.

As per Reserve Bank of India guidelines, customers cannot withdraw money from their wallet once it is deposited.

At any time, the balance in the mobile wallet is capped at Rs 10,000 a month.

The customers cannot send more than Rs 5,000 in a single transaction to another mobile wallet issued by SBI.

Three such transactions are allowed in a month.

satyanarayan.iyer@thehindu.co.in

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Corp Bank GMs are brand ambassadors too

A few months ago, when Ajai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Corporation Bank, was going through an issue of a well-known international publication, he found a picture of an Indian CEO on the cover page. After making enquiries, he discovered that it was a complimentary issue with a false cover having the picture of that particular CEO on it.

That set him thinking, and soon Ajai Kumar thought of implementing that idea in the branding exercise of his bank also. That is why you see in the latest series of advertisements of his bank. They come with the picture of the General Manager in-charge of a particular vertical. Ajai Kumar, who believes in the strength of people (Corp Bank staffers) and products, had highlighted this on several occasions.

He told Business Line that General Managers are the operational heads in banks. And with disarming modesty, he said: “CMDs and EDs come and go. It is these people (GMs) who are running the show.”

“Rather than using any other brand ambassadors, I am creating branding for my bank through my people who put heart and soul into work,” he said.

Recall value

Such measures instil confidence among the customers and other stakeholders, he said. Most of the customers and other stakeholders would have interacted with these GMs. They would remember that this person had done some work for them. This will help increase recall value of the brand.

Asked about the reactions for this campaign, he said he is getting good feedback from both customers and fellow bankers.

With a smile on his face, he said: “I hear that after seeing our advertisements, GMs of other banks are asking their CMDs for such ads.”

vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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