Every bank branch to have ATM by March this year: Minister

Describing UPA-II government's focus on inclusive growth in the banking sector as a mission, Union Minister of State for Finance Namo Narayan Meena today said every old bank branch should have ATM facility by the end of current fiscal.Every new bank was now providing ATM facility while opening its branches despite some problem in availability of these machines, Meena said after inaugurating the regional office of Dena Bank here.Not only on site, but also off site the ATM should be opened at the busy places like colleges, universities, malls,...

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SBI declares war on NPAs as bad loans spurt

Faced with rising bad loan problems, the country's largest lender State Bank announced a new roadmap which will limit slippages and also give early warning on stressed assets.The bank also announced slew of initiatives in the areas of cost control, productivity improvement, better incentives and overhauling of HR policies."We have decided to move stressed assets recovery branches that were reporting to the national banking group (NBG) so as to have better focus and outcomes," SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said while announcing third...

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RBI tightens gold import norms under 80:20 scheme

Seeking to restrict gold imports, the Reserve Bank today said nominated banks and agencies will not be allowed to import the precious metal in excess of their entitlements in first or second lot under the 80:20 scheme."Import of gold in the third lot onwards will be lesser of the two-- five times the export for which proof has been submitted or quantity of gold permitted to a nominated agency in the first or second lot," RBI said in a notification.The government under the 80:20 scheme had in August 14, 2013, allowed nominated agencies to import...

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State Bank of India vows to tackle bad loans after Q3 profit miss

State Bank of India (SBI) said on Friday it would boost vigilance of bad loans after the country's largest lender disappointed analysts and posted a fourth consecutive quarterly drop in net income.Like state-run peers Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Bank of India, SBI's profits have been clipped by an increase in defaults by companies battling reduced cash flows, high inflation and delays in government approvals for projects.To avoid a further worsening in its asset quality, SBI will conduct weekly reviews, and install new technology,...

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United Bank of India may get fresh capital infusion from government

The United Bank of India may get some fresh capital infusion from the government, financial circles felt on Wednesday. That, however, isn't confirmed yet, even though the speculation has brought cheers to employees of the beleaguered bank.Fact is that even if the government wishes to do so, it will perhaps have to seek support from other institutional investors since the scope of direct capital infusion is very limited. For the records, the government holds 88% in the Kolkata-based lender and it cannot hike its stake beyond 90%, according to...

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Reverse repo borrowing falls to Rs 7.70 billion: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday it accepted all 2 bids for Rs 7.70 billion at its 1-day reverse repo auction on Monday, through which it absorbs liquidity from the banking system.On Monday, it accepted all 56 bids for Rs 350.37 billion at its one-day repo auction, through which it injects liquidity into the banking system.Source: Economic Time...

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Banking services paralysed on Monday as employees begin 2-day strike

Banking services were crippled on Monday as bank employees across regions begun a two day strike rejecting Indian Banks' Associations 10% hike offer.Wage revision in public sector banks is due since November 2012. At the last tripartite wage settlement in 2007 which expired in October 2012, bank employees received a 17.5% hike.United Forum of Bank Unions said over 10 lakh employees have joined the strike in 27 public sector banks and 48 regional rural banks.However, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the profit of banks cannot be used only...

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Public sector bank staff start two-day strike; operations hit

Cheque clearances and cash withdrawals and deposits in public sector bank branches across the country were hit as employees started a two-day strike from Monday to press for a revision in wages.However, private sector banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were functioning normally because their staff are not on strike.Employees are compelled to take this route as the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) did not come up with an improved wage offer, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Convener M V Murali said. The IBA represents bank managements.Banks,...

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SBI offers lower interest rates to rivals’ customers

In a fresh twist to the rate war in home loans, the country's largest lender State Bank of India is pitching its low interest rates to lure buyers who have already availed mortgages from rivals. The bank has sent out emails to prospective customers where it is marketing a balance transfer scheme in addition to selling fresh loans.SBI offer loans up to Rs 75 lakh at an interest rate of 10.15 per cent or 15 basis points above its base rate of 10 per cent. The base rate is the benchmark rate on which its floating rate loans are re-priced. The...

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Bank unions to go on two-day strike from Monday

Operations at public sector banks are likely to be impacted as employee unions have decided to go on a two-day nation-wide strike from Monday to press for wage revision.During the conciliation meeting held on February 6 before the Chief Labour Commissioner, the IBA did not come up with any improvement in the wage offer of 10 per cent hike in the pay package, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Convener M V Murali told PTI.As conciliation proceedings remained inconclusive, he said, UFBU has decided to go on two day nation-wide from February 10.Banks...

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Dena Bank Q3 profit down 67 pct to Rs 67.80 cr on higher provisioning

Public sector lender Dena Bank reported a 67 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 67.80 crore for the quarter ended December 31 on account of higher provisioning.The bank's profit after tax stood at Rs 206 crore in the corresponding quarter last year."Profitability is under stress due to higher provisioning," the bank's Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Kumar told reporters here.The bank's provisions increased to Rs 382.43 crore in the October-December quarter as against Rs 156.59 crore last year.The bank's net interest margin (NIM) stood...

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