Jan Dhan Yojana: Financial literacy spends of banks to qualify as CSR

Financial literacy spends made by banks under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is all set to qualify as corporate social responsibility (CSR).The Corporate Affairs Ministry has conveyed to the Finance Ministry that the financial literacy spends made by banks under PMJDY will be counted as CSR, Anurag Jain, Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), said at a seminar on financial inclusion, organised by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce here on Friday.“We had already written to Corporate Affairs Ministry. They have actually...

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ICICI Bank raises $500 mn via overseas bond sale

ICICI Bank (through its Dubai branch) has sold 5.5 year fixed rate notes aggregating $500 mn. The notes were offered at an issue price of 99.653 and carry a coupon rate of 3.5 per cent, the bank said in an exchange filing. Source : The Hind...

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Corporation Bank opens new branch

Corporation Bank has opened a new branch at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra. A press release by the bank said that SR Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director, inaugurated the branch. In Thane, it has 43 branches and 50 ATMs covering Chembur, Ghatkopar, Powai, Vikhroli, Bhandup and Mulund areas of Mumbai, and Raigad, Ratnagiri, Nashik and Thane (including Navi Mumbai) districts, the release added.Source : The Hind...

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SBI attracting job-seekers by the droves

Many young people in the country seem to be coveting a job in the State Bank of India, going by the number of applications the bank received in the last round of recruitment exams conducted between June and August.India’s largest bank received 18.83 lakh applications for the 1,837 vacancies for probationary officers (POs) or a whopping 1,025 aspirants vying for every slot. As for clerical recruitment, the bank received 23 lakh applications for 5,092 vacancies or about 452 applications for every vacancy.Besides science, commerce and arts graduates...

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Banking Ombudsman: Customer complaints on the rise, but 23% of them not maintainable

Technology seems both a boon and bane in banking. While customers are able to do their banking transactions 24x7, from the comfort of their home, anytime and anywhere, people also seem to be losing money because of technology, observed U Chiranjeevi, Banking Ombudsman, RBI, Chennai.Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of the Coimbatore edition of Reserve Bank of India Quiz (RBIQ), he said that the number of complaints pertaining to credit and ATM cards are on the rise.''But 23 per cent of the complaints are not maintainable. People are not aware of the scheme,'' he said and explained that the Banking Ombudsman office does not entertain complaints received through an advocate, forgery...

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Lakshmi Vilas Bank aims 20 per cent growth in 2014-15: Rakesh Sharma, MD

Private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank aims to double its profits during the current financial year even as it has set a target of growing at 20 per cent year-on-year, according to a top official."We are hoping to register profits of about Rs 140 crore in the current (financial) year. Last year we made some provisioning. Our profits for last year was around Rs 60 crore," Lakshmi Vilas Bank Managing Director and CEO Rakesh Sharma told reporters here.Elaborating he said, "our first quarter profits (of current financial year) was about Rs 28 crore. In the remaining three quarters we expect about Rs 35-Rs 40 crore (in each quarters). We expect our profits to be Rs 140 crore".Lakshmi Vilas Bank...

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Card payment network RuPay sees boost from government banking scheme

A government drive to expand banking services in India is giving a boost to home-grown card payment network RuPay, which expects to quadruple the number of users by March and make debit cards more acceptable in a nation where cash is still king.Started in 2012 by a company owned by 10 local and foreign banks, RuPay competes with global payment firms Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc for the few customers in Asia's third largest economy able to afford a debit or credit card.As of July, banks issued just under 435 million payment cards in India, a nation of 1.3 billion people. Most were debit cards.RuPay's share of daily card transactions, however, remains small compared with the global firms, which...

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Wage revision parleys not making headway: bank unions

It’s been almost two years since the start of the wage revision negotiations, but no significant progress has been made in arriving at a settlement, say bank union sources.The traditional ‘roundtable negotiations’ have been replaced by ‘correspondence’ after the last meeting on June 13, said retired bank unionist S Srinivasan.“At the last round held in June, the Indian Banks’ Association relented to a one per cent increase to 11 per cent. Thereafter, negotiations across the table have come to a standstill and replaced with exchange of three...

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Court extends judicial custody of Syndicate Bank CMD Jain till Sept 24

A Delhi court today extended till September 24 the judicial custody of Syndicate Bank CMD Sudhir Kumar Jain, Bhushan Steel Ltd Vice-Chairman and MD, Neeraj Singal, and nine others who were arrested by the CBI in connection with a bribery case.On expiry of their judicial custody, the accused were produced before special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma, who extended it further till September 24 after the agency said that the probe into the case was going on.Besides Jain and Singal, CBI had arrested CMD of Prakash Industries Ltd, Ved Prakash Agarwal,...

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SBI plans to roll out stock options for employees

In a move that is the first of its kind in the public sector banking space, State Bank of India plans to roll out an employee stock option scheme (ESOS) for its 2.19 lakh employees.Even as the scheme is in the works, India’s largest bank has dropped its earlier plan to come out with an employee stock purchase scheme.The move to offer ESOS is aimed at motivating employees to perform better as also to attract and retain talent.Competition to attract experienced bankers has intensified with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granting “in-principle” approval in April to IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services to set up banks in the private sector. The central bank is also expected to issue universal...

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Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as World Bank ED

Senior IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg was today appointed as Executive Director (ED) in World Bank.Garg, a 1983-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, will have a tenure of three years from the date of assuming charge of the post, said an order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).The Executive Directors are responsible for the conduct of the general operations of the World Bank and exercise all the powers delegated to them by the Boards of Governors. They also select a President who serves as Chairman of the Boards.They are...

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ICICI Bank offers Cardless Cash Withdrawal at ATMs

Now, withdraw without a debit card at an ICICI Bank ATM, as the bank facilitates cardless cash withdrawal service with the help of a mobile number.ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, announced its ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ service that allows its customers to transfer money from their account to anyone in India with a mobile number, the bank said in a statement.The recipient can withdraw money round the clock without using a debit card from over 10,000 ATMs of ICICI Bank across the country. One can do this even without having...

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Reserve Bank to pick talent via UPSC-like test

The Reserve Bank of India will adopt a common recruitment system from next year to tap talent for its core functions. The larger objective is to strengthen itself in the changing economic scenario.“Starting from 2015, there shall be common recruitment for all core functions of the bank,” the RBI said in an internal report on HR initiatives.At present, it recruits officers and support staff for core and non-core functions through different examinations, such as the Grade ‘B’ officers level exam. The RBI now has about 17,000 employees.The proposed...

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Guarantor of a ‘wilful defaulter’ is liable too: RBI

In case a guarantor of a wilful defaulting borrower refuses to comply with the bank’s demand, the guarantor would also be treated as a wilful defaulter, RBI said.“Where a banker has made a claim on the guarantor on account of the default made by the principal debtor, the liability of the guarantor is immediate. In case the said guarantor refuses to comply with the demand made by the creditor/banker, despite having sufficient means to make payment of the dues, such guarantor would also be treated as a wilful defaulter,” RBI said in a clarification...

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ICICI Bank approves 1:5 shares split

The Board of Directors of ICICI Bank Ltd has considered and approved the sub-division (split) of one equity share of the Bank having a face value of Rs 10 into 5 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each.According to the bank's statement, "Each American Depositary Share (ADS) of ICICI Bank will continue to represent two underlying equity shares as at present."The number of ADSs held by an American Depositary Receipt holder would consequently increase in proportion to the increase in number of equity shares," it said.The sub-division of shares...

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SBI's operations disrupted in Kashmir valley due to floods

Banking operations in as many as 66 branches of State Bank of India in Kashmir valley were severely affected following heavy floods in Jammu and Kashmir where massive rescue operations are underway to help out trapped people.With no communication link functioning with the branches in the valley, SBI is hoping to restore banking operations once the water level recedes."Banking operations in Srinagar are completely disrupted due to floods. We have 66 branches in the valley. Out of total branches, minimum of 60 are supposed to be closed, while...

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State Bank of India launches multi-currency travel card

State Bank of India and MasterCard announced launch of a multi- currency foreign travel card that will be available through identified State Bank branches. The card is available in both retail and corporate variants will allow the consumers to pay conveniently in multiple currencies. It will initially be available in four currencies—USD, GBP, Euro and SGD and eventually be made available in all major currencies.It's a prepaid and reloadable card with 24/7 access to balance and transaction history online or via the dedicated customer service...

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Arun Thiagarajan resigns from ING Vysya Bank

Arun Thiagarajan has relinquished his office as part-time Chairman and as a Director of ING Vysya Bank, effective September 6, 2014.In a notice to the BSE, the Bangalore-headquartered private sector bank said it is taking necessary steps to appoint a successor in due course.Thiagarajan had joined the bank, which has 547 branches and about 10,000 employees, in 2010.The main stakeholders in ING Vysya Bank are: Dutch financial institution, ING Group (42.86 per cent stake); foreign institutional investors (28.16 per cent); and domestic institutional...

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RBI norms on Basel III instruments are credit positive: Moody's

The new norms by RBI for the instruments compliant under Basel III to raise Tier-I capital are credit positive for Indian banks, in particular public sector banks, according to Moody’s credit rating agency.“They will make the instruments more attractive to investors, broaden the investor base for additional Tier 1 (AT1) securities to include retail investors and allow banks to have a higher proportion of AT1 capital in their Tier 1 capital,” Moody’s said in its credit outlook report.New guidelinesOn September 1, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)...

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Kotak Bank appoints woman director on board

Kotak Mahindra Bank has appointed Farida Khambata as additional director on its board with immediate effect. The decision was taken at a board meeting on Sunday, September 7, Kotak Bank said in an exchange filing.Currently, Khambata is global strategist at Cartica Management LLC and a member of its investment committee.At present, the Kotak Bank board comprises Shankar Acharya, Uday Kotak, C Jayaram, Dipak Gupta, Asim Ghosh, Prakash Apte, Amit Desai, Narendra P Sarda and Mahendra Dev.Starting October 1, 2014, SEBI has mandated that "The board...

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Origo Commodities partners with PNB to finance farmers, MSMEs

Origo Commodities, which is into post-harvest management services, today said it has signed an agreement with the Punjab National Bank for providing finances to farmers and MSMEs against warehouse receipts.Punjab National Bank has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Origo Commodities India Pvt Ltd for warehouse receipt financing and is targeting to disburse Rs. 500 crore this fiscal.“Under this MoU, PNB, through warehouse receipts issued by Origo, will cater to the needs of MSMEs and farmers by providing financing against...

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Jan Dhan Yojana opens a new door for RuPay gateway

As Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the financial inclusion scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last month notches up impressive numbers and expects to meet its 7.5 crore accounts target well within 100 days, payment gateway RuPay is experiencing a boost in fortunes.Payment gateways are platforms that help banks facilitate electronic money transfers. India is only the fourth country in the world after the US, Japan and China to have its own national payment gateway, in RuPay.With the PMJDY getting nearly 2.5 crore new...

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Karnataka Bank appoints new additional director

Karnataka Bank Ltd has appointed BA Prabhakar, former Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Andhra Bank, as an Additional Director of the bank.The bank informed the BSE on Monday that the board, which met on September 6, has appointed Prabhakar as an Additional Director of the bank.Prabhakar, a chartered accountant, retired as CMD of Andhra Bank in August 2013. Prior to that, he had served as the Executive Director of Bank of India from October 2008 to December 2011. Before that, Prabhakar had served Bank of Baroda from October 1977 to October...

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Jan Dhan Yojana: KPMG to validate number of accounts opened by banks

The Finance Ministry has roped in professional services firm KPMG to undertake a validation exercise of the number of basic bank accounts opened by the banks under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).KPMG’s confirmation of the number of accounts opened will help the Centre pitch for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for the maximum number of bank accounts opened in a day, banking industry sources said.It would also provide some comfort to the Finance Ministry that the numbers submitted by the banks were accurate and reflected...

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SBI launches new products for children

State Bank of India on Friday launched two new Savings Bank products — Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan — for children.Pehla Kadam is a Savings Bank account for minor of any age operated jointly with his/her parent/guardian, while Pehli Udaan is a singly operated Savings Bank Account for a minor aged 10 years and above and who can sign uniformly.Specially branded passbook and cheque book have been designed for these products. All the account holders will be given an exclusively designed personalised photo ATM-cum-Debit Card, the bank said in a statement.Other...

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