Jan Dhan Yojana: new bank accounts opened exceeds 5.5 cr mark

The number of Jan Dhan accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have crossed the 5.5 crore mark.

As of October 7, the number of accounts opened under PMJDY — the flagship financial inclusion programme of the Modi-led Government — stood at 5.52 crore accounts.

A deposit of Rs 4,268 crore have been mobilised under PMJDY so far, an official release said.

Meanwhile, the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Puducherry and the three districts of Gujarat — Porbandar, Mehsana and Gandhi Nagar have reported that at least one bank account has been opened for all households thereby making these areas fully saturated in PMJDY.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on August 28 launched the PMJDY, which is looking to financially include as many as 7.5 crore unbanked househoulds in the country by January 26 next year.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

Source : The Hindu

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Federal Bank ties up with IIFL to offer enhanced broking services

Kerala-based old private sector lender Federal Bank has announced a partnership with India Infoline, a part of IIFL Group, to offer enhanced broking services.

Federal Bank customers in India and abroad will be offered IIFL’s enhanced broking services, the bank said in a statement.

Ashutosh Khajuria, President, Treasury and Head, Network II, Federal Bank, said, “India Infoline has one of the finest broking services across the industry and we are happy that Federal Bank customers will benefit from the relationship. We aim to connect our customers in India and abroad to one of the most trustworthy brands in broking.”

R Venkataraman, Managing Director, IIFL Group, said, “Federal Bank’s reach across India and overseas will benefit IIFL immensely. We want to remain their trusted partner to millions of Federal Bank customers and assist them in their investments.”

Source : The Hindu

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Suggestions invited for utilisation of unclaimed deposits in small savings schemes

The National Savings Institute has invited suggestions and ideas on proper utilisation of deposits lying unclaimed in various Small Savings Schemes in Post Offices and banks for welfare and protection of financial interest of senior citizens.

Interested persons/organisations can submit their suggestions/ideas to the Joint Director National Savings Institute, Government of India, Ministry of Finance, ‘A’ Block, 4th Floor, CGO Complex, Seminary Hills, Nagpur–440006 or email (nsi@nsiindia.gov.in​) latest by November 15, 2014.

The National Savings Institute is providing Secretarial support to the Committee appointed by the Ministry of Finance to examine issues related to unclaimed amounts lying in various small savings schemes.

Harun R. Khan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India is the Chairman of this committee.


Source : The Hindu

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SBI to build database to fix wilful defaulters

To build watertight cases against wilful defaulters, State Bank of India is planning to create a database of such defaulters, highlighting the grey areas that they are taking advantage of.

Emphasising that his bank has been declaring borrowers as wilful defaulters for quite some time, PK Malhotra, Deputy Managing Director, said, “But there are many cases where we are not able to establish wilful default for want of evidence…

“There are certain grey areas. So, we will have a proper database within the bank where these grey areas will also be highlighted.”

A wilful defaulter, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s definition, is a borrower who deliberately does not pay his dues despite possessing adequate cash flow and good net worth and siphons off funds to the detriment of the defaulting unit.

Such a defaulter also sells off assets purchased with bank loans and wrongly utilises the proceeds, misrepresents/falsifies records, and resorts to fraudulent transactions.

Once a borrower is declared a wilful defaulter, he/she is debarred from accessing institutional finance. Also, banks and financial institutions can effect a change of management at the wilfully defaulting borrower’s unit and prevent the borrower and his unit from gaining access to the capital market.

Malhotra said: “We know that the fellow (borrower) has siphoned off money. But there is no proof in the sense that many cheques pass through the account, (and) many credits pass through the account.

“So, proper proof of this money having gone out, sometimes, is not available. Circumstantial evidence is there.”

So, the bank’s grievance redress committee (GRC), which is headed by a Managing Director, sometimes lets go off these people as adequate evidence has not been put up before it.

Dilatory tactics
Referring to dilatory tactics resorted to by borrowers to stall recovery proceedings, Malhotra said, “When we send a show-cause notice, we have to statutorily give him (borrower) 15 days time to reply.

“On the 14th day, the fellow will come up with some frivolous kind of objection, which will vitiate the recovery proceedings. So, we again have to give him time (to reply).”

For example, there was this borrower, who said on the 12th day that all the enclosures are illegible. Now, many of the show-cause notices that banks send have 100-150 pages attached to them.

“Most of them (pages), to my eyes, are perfectly legible. But this guy says they are illegible. He will not point out which portion is illegible. However, we send the same lot, with better photocopy, etc., to him once again. Then again on the 12th or 13th day, he will come up with some objection,” explained Malhotra.

Then, just before the GRC meeting, the borrower will send a letter along with a medical certificate stating that he is hospitalised. Now, the GRC cannot meet everyday. So, the bank has to give the borrower another date for hearing.

“We are trying to get over this dilatory tactic by actually sending the Debt Recovery Agent to the hospital to find out if the borrower is there or not.

“This is to ensure that whosoever is required to come before the GRC, he comes. And if the person doesn’t show up, then based on available evidence, he is declared a wilful defaulter,” said Malhotra.


Source : The Hindu

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IndusInd Bank gets rating upgrade

CARE Ratings has revised the rating assigned to IndusInd Bank’s Rs 450-crore lower tier-II bonds to ‘AA+’ from ‘AA’.

“The rating revision factors in IndusInd Bank’s consistently good performance in terms of profitability, asset quality and capitalisation levels.

The rating further factors in an experienced management and improving current account, savings account proportion over the years,” the rating agency said in a statement.


Source : The Hindu

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RBI cancels licence of Ajmer Urban Co-operative bank on insolvency

The Reserve Bank has cancelled licence of Rajasthan's Ajmer Urban Co-operative Bank as the bank ceased to be solvent.

"The Reserve Bank has from the close of business as on September 19, 2014, cancelled the licence of the Ajmer Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. Ajmer (Rajasthan) as it had ceased to be solvent, all efforts to revive it had failed and the depositors were being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty," RBI said in a notification.

The registrar of Co-operative Societies, Rajasthan has also been asked to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator.

On liquidation, every depositor will be entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of 'Rs one lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), RBI said.

"Consequent to the cancellation of its licence, The Ajmer Urban Co-operative Bank is prohibited from carrying on banking business," RBI added.

The bank was granted a licence by the RBI on December 18, 2000 to commence banking business.

Subsequently, in view of the large amount of NPAs, substantial accumulated losses, poor chances of recovery for improvement in financial health of the bank, revival prospects of the bank in the near future became bleak.

Various merger proposals or options were explored by the bank at the instance of the State Federation. However, there was no positive outcome.


Source : Economic Times

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We have political will to undertake financial sector reform: RBI Governor

Underscoring the need for financial sector reforms, Reserve Bank of India Governor has stressed that the “time to deliver begins now” and there is political will to undertake reforms and improve India’s economic growth.

“Financial reform is not difficult — we have the political will to improve,” the Indian Consulate here tweeted the RBI governor as saying during an event yesterday.

“Time to deliver begins now. We need to focus on deliverables,” another tweet quoting Rajan said.

The head of India’s central bank addressed a select gathering of prominent and influential Indian-American businessmen from the finance and investment banking sector at an event organised by the Consulate General in collaboration with the India-America Chamber of Commerce.

Outlining the major areas that require change and immediate implementation, Rajan said it is a good time to invest in the Indian economy now.

Developing infrastructure, improving quality of human capital, optimum regulation for good business and extensive financial sector reform should be the next steps for improvement and development of the Indian economy, according a press statement issued by the Consulate.

Rajan encouraged the Indian-American business community to get involved in the “nitty gritty of the implementation process,” saying such involvement was not difficult especially since the Indian government has the political will to reform.

“Over the years, India has outgrown its institutions,” Rajan was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Such institutions only worked well when we had the practice of resource allocation, which was a source of revenue. This was a time when coal could be extracted from the ground with your bare hands.”

Rajan said the Indian economy can no longer work with this model, adding that just as there were drastic democratic changes that reacted to the economic slump in the past decade, institutions also have reacted.

He emphasized on the need to convert talk about change into delivering and implementing reforms, the press statement said.

Making crucial recommendations to creating a more investment-friendly market in India, Rajan said stalled projects need to get back on track and “clearance should be from capital and on ground.”

He further said that complex labour laws need to be improved to benefit both employers and workers and self-certification should be allowed to eliminate the stressful and cumbersome process of inspections.


Source : The Hindu

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IDFC Alternatives raises Rs. 5,500 cr for second infra fund

​​IDFC Alternatives, the private equity arm of infrastructure finance company IDFC Ltd, has raised $902.4 million (Rs 5,500 crore) for its second fund that would invest in the country’s infrastructure assets.

This includes a commitment of $90 million from its parent IDFC and remaining $810 million from limited partners. In addition, investors in the fund – India Infrastructure Fund II (IIF II) – have also pledged significant additional capital towards co-investment opportunities, the company said in a statement.

“We are very pleased with the high quality and marquee investors that IIF II has attracted and are proud of the speed with which IIF II has been subscribed to, especially given the difficult economic and financial conditions that prevailed during the majority of our fund-raising period,” said M.K. Sinha, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer at IDFC Alternatives.

IIF II is the successor to IDFC Alternatives’ debut infrastructure fund – India Infrastructure Fund - which closed in June 2009 with a fund size of $927 million.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

Source : The Hindu

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Andhra Bank’s mega property show in Hyderabad on Oct 11-12

As part of its Retail `Utsav’, Andhra Bank will be organising a mega property show at Shilpakala Vedika here during October 11-12.

Over 30 builders and all major four-wheeler dealers would be participating in the two-day event. ``We have waived the processing charges and will also offer spot-approval for eligible customers,’’ G Ravi Kumar, General Manager, Hyderabad zone of Andhra Bank told newspersons at a press conference here on Thursday.

A special focus would also be there on loans for small and medium enterprises. The bank is expecting a minimum business of over Rs. 100 crore during the show.

There also be a lucky draw at the end of the each day for the visitors and winner would be given a free-stay coupon at a local resort.

The property show will be inaugurated by T Harish Rao, Minister of Irrigation, Government of Telangana at 10.30 am on Saturday.

Source : The Hindu

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Bandhan Bank appoints FIS Intl to develop core banking tool

The upcoming Bandhan Bank has appointed FIS International, one of the largest banking and payments technology solutions provider globally, to develop its core banking software solutions.

According to a release issued by FIS, the global major will help Bandhan by providing and managing a fully integrated banking and payments platform through a totally outsourced delivery model.

This will include the core banking, channel solutions, treasury, trade finance, and an entire suite of payments services that includes debit card management and interback connectivity.

Bandhan, the country’s largest micro-finance institution, was granted an “in-principle” banking licence by the Reserve Bank of India earlier this year.

Bandhan is expected to start banking operations by September 2015 with about 600 branches and operations across 27 states.

“Our comprehensive, in-country servicing capabilities will allow Bandhan to launch its operations whilst remaining focused on bringing financial opportunities to large numbers of people across India,” Raja Gopalakrishnan, Group Managing Director – Asia-Pacific and CO, FIS International, said.

“Bandhan is relying on FIS to manage its entire banking infrastructure so that it can focus on the economic needs of its customers and on how to most effectively promote its business,” he added.​


Source : The Hindu

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Need to look beyond banks to fund infra projects: R Gandhi

RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi on Wednesday said there is a need to look for sources other than bank finance for funding infrastructure projects in the country.

“The exposure of banks to infrastructure and real estate sector cannot increase much beyond the current levels,” the RBI Deputy Governor said while addressing a session on Real Estate and Infrastructure Financing at the FICCI-CAPAM 2014.

As a prudential measure, banks are not allowed to lend more than a fourth of their total loans to the infrastructure and the real estate sector.

“The exposure cannot be much beyond this. We are concerned about extra exposure of the banking system to these sectors,” Gandhi said.

It is estimated that the infrastructure segment will need a cumulative investment of $1 trillion in the current Five-Year Plan (ending 2017) to sustain a healthy economic growth.

However, investments in the sector have been hard to come by.

Gandhi added, “Infrastructure is a segment which should have been supported by institutions beyond banks, but unfortunately in our country such institutions have not risen to that kind of financial position. So, banks have accepted the additional responsibility to fund this sector and the exposure of banks to this sector has more than doubled over the past year to Rs8,40,000 crore.”

He clarified that there will be a natural growth of 18-20 per cent every year in bank funding to these segments. However, this will not be sufficient.

Corporate bond market

To diversify the sources of funding to the sector, the RBI has tried to deepen the corporate bond market along with institutions such as SEBI. However, the efforts are yet to bear significant results.

The RBI has also allowed banks to raise long-term (with maturity of at least seven years) bonds, on liberal terms, for funding infrastructure and low-cost housing projects.

In the past few months, only two banks have utilised this facility, probably because of low demand from companies for infrastructure loans.

“It (bonds by banks) is in the offing. They have to have projects. Right now, the banks do not seem to have many,” Gandhi added.

The Government, on its part, has been trying to lure foreign investments into the sector but big ticket investments are yet to find their way into the country.


Source : The Hindu

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Restructuring at RBI will be completed by month-end

The Reserve Bank of India’s organisational restructuring exercise, which has got under way and is expected to be completed by this month end, will see the number of departments at the central office increase from 29 to 36.

Five clusters

To have a consistent reporting line and broad functional homogeneity, the RBI’s central office departments are being organised into five clusters — regulation and banking services; supervision and risk management; monetary stability; financial markets and infrastructure; and operations and human resources.

Supervision of all deposit-taking financial entities (such as commercial banks, co-operative banks and non-banking finance companies) alongside the overall financial stability function and the RBI’s own risk management and internal audit functions will be placed in a single cluster — supervision and risk management — for synergy.

Regulation of all the financial entities such as banks, non-banks and co-operative banks and the services that the RBI provides to its clients starting from general public to governments and banks will be placed in a single — regulation and banking services — cluster.

The regulation of non-banking financial entities will fall under a new Department of Non-Banking Regulation, which will be carved out of the Department of Non-Banking Supervision.

New names

As part of the organisation restructuring exercise, the RBI will rechristen three departments — Department of Banking Operations and Development as Department of Banking Regulation; Customer Service Department as Consumer Education and Protection Department; and Rural Planning and Credit Department as Financial Inclusion and Development Department.

The urban banks department will be split into two — Department of Co-operative Banking Regulation and Department of Co-operative Banking Supervision.

The Financial Markets Department too will be split into two — Financial Markets Regulation Department and Financial Markets Operations Department.

From the RBI’s operational perspective, matters relating to monetary policy, research and statistics will form a monetary stability cluster.

Focus on communication

“In today’s interconnected world, central bank communication is increasingly emerging as the most potent instrument of monetary policy, nudging expectations and moving behaviour of economic agents.

“It is, therefore, felt that the Department of Communication should form part of the monetary stability cluster,” according to the RBI’s blueprint for organisation restructuring.

The monetary stability cluster will take the lead in managing international issues through the formation of International Department.

This department will take care of the RBI’s emerging role in regard to international financial diplomacy.


Source : The Hindu

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Muthoot Finance launches housing loan down payment scheme

Muthoot Finance has launched a product ‘Home Down Payment Loan’ to finance margin money needed to avail of home loans.

As per the norms, a home loan borrower has to pay 20 per cent margin money or his own contribution to avail of housing loan up to 80 per cent.

Many people do not get a housing loan because they do not have margin money. So, Muthoot Finance has come out with such a product which takes care of the margin money issue of home loan seeker, Muthoot Group AGM marketing Avinav Chaubey said.

With repayment period of five years, this product has been designed for the down payment of a new property or renovation or extension of an existing property.

Loan under this plan is provided instantly with no property or income documents required even before the property is selected, he said, adding the prominent feature of this loan plan is that gives its borrowers an option to pay their interest as EMI only for the days they need the amount without additional charges.

It provides cheaper interest rates as compared to taking personal loans or from local pawn shops.

The loan, available at 11 per cent interest rate, would range from Rs. 1 lakh to 10 lakh for a period of 12 to 60 months.

Besides, the company has also launched consumer loan to offer convenient credit options to customers for buying consumer durable.

Convenient Consumer Loan (CCL), which is an EMI based loan service and can be cleared within 36 months, he said, adding convenient consumer loan also does not include any ’Negative Area’ concept, wherein the loan seekers application often gets rejected.

The target group for this scheme include salaried persons, traders, professionally employed persons, agriculturists etc.

The CCL provides instant finance up to 100 per cent of the product value without the need of CIBIL Score or Credit Card.

There are no processing charges involved and an exclusive zero down payment facility is offered to all its customers.

Source : The Hindu

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Exim Bank extends $7.76 mn line of credit to Cuban Bank

Export-Import Bank of India has, at the behest of the Government of India, extended two additional Lines of Credit [LOCs] to Banco Exterior De Cuba, Cuba aggregating $7.76 million.

While one LOC (for $2.71 million) is for financing the setting up of a bulk blending fertilizer plant, the other (for $5.05 million) is for financing the modernisation of an injectable products plant.

With the signing of the above two LOC Agreements, Exim Bank, till date, has extended three Lines of Credit to Cuba, at the behest of the Government of India, taking the total value of LOCs extended to $12.76 million.

Under the LOC, Exim Bank will reimburse 100 per cent of contract value to the Indian exporters, upfront upon shipment of goods. The LOC will be used for sourcing of goods and services from India.

The main items that India exports to Cuba are pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, vehicles other than railway or tramway, organic chemicals, rubber manufactured products, and plastic products. The main items that India imports from Cuba are vegetables, fruits, nuts and their preparations, pharmaceutical products, leather, raw hides and skin. 

Source : The Hindu

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Karnataka Bank, TVS Motor tie up

Karnataka Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with TVS Motor for extending channel finance facility to the authorised dealers of the company. The bank will provide channel finance on easy terms to eligible authorised dealers of the company, said a press release issued by the bank on Tuesday. Meera Aranha, General Manager of Karnataka Bank, and JS Srinivasan, Vice-President (Sales) of TVS Motor, signed the MoU in Bangalore recently. 

Source : The Hindu

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SBI set to overhaul staff training strategy

If everything goes according to plan, 1.5 lakh officers of the State Bank of India may soon have to go back to classrooms at in-house institutes, and earn certificates to be considered for promotions, according to sources.

The certificates earned may also come in handy for those looking for a change in job.

To keep pace with the changing needs of the banking industry, SBI is planning to overhaul its staff training strategy. The aim is to link scholarship with experiential learning, so as to make its officers specialists in their areas of operation.

Still in a conceptual stage, the initiative is likely to take shape in the next six months.

Training infrastructure

India’s largest bank currently operates 47 learning centres and five apex institutes to train and retrain its staff. Another apex institute, likely to be the largest of all, is under construction in Kolkata. Currently, the training is largely de-linked from the bank’s career improvement policies. The bank now wants to bridge this gap.

For example, SBI now picks officers for its 80-odd international branches through nomination and this is followed by requisite training. In future, the bank will select the candidates for international posting from a pool of trained officers.

Certification programme

To make the initiative mutually beneficial, the training modules may be linked with certification programmes.

It means, on successful completion of studentship, an officer will be awarded diplomas or degrees, as applicable, from a reputed Indian university or management institute.

Negotiations are currently on with four top institutions in the country for entering into a hand-holding relationship.

When contacted, Debashish Sarkar, Chief General Manager, Strategic Training Unit, said the bank is in the process of mapping the roles of every officer to restructure the training exercises. “The changing pattern of the industry demands specialised knowledge for each and every role. Moreover, in a fast changing environment, such knowledge needs regular upgrade,” Sarkar said.

Capacity building

Sources say the initiative is also aiming at skill development for India’s growing banking and non-banking financial sectors.

The bank recently conducted a training programme on Basel-III norms that saw participation from not only state-owned banks but also private banks, such as Axis Bank.

In the future, SBI will offer certification programmes for the wider population of bankers in India as well as overseas.

The idea is to make India an affordable destination for developing nations to upgrade banking-related skills.

Source : The Hindu

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Jan Dhan Yojana: PM lauds bank staff for successful rollout

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commended bank officers and staff for the excellent work put in by them in rolling out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) successfully.

In an e-mail sent out to bank staff and officers, Modi said he was delighted by the unprecedented response PMJDY had received so far.

Over 5 crore bank accounts have been opened within five weeks of launch against a target of 7.5 crore accounts in the first year, he said.

“This is primarily due to your diligence and commitment. I had urged you to ensure that no one is left behind without a bank account. I always had faith in the ability of our system to rise to any challenge and with your unflinching dedication, sense of purpose and hard work, your results have far exceeded expectations”, Modi said.

At the same time, Modi also cautioned that reaching the last few who do not have bank accounts was going to be progressively more difficult.

“We must not slacken our efforts in ensuring full coverage”, he said.

Modi said this was also the time to reflect and make mid-course corrections as required. A lot of effort will be required in promoting financial literacy amongst the new account holders.

New accounts also need to be kept alive and properly utilised. Aadhaar numbers will need to be seeded in bank accounts. Facilities like e-KYC must be gainfully utilised.

Also, bank branches and bank mitras will have to play a more proactive role so that every account holder is reached by a banking agent regularly, Modi said.

srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

Source : The Hindu

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Home loans grow 23% in first half of FY’14

The housing finance industry has witnessed a 23 per cent jump in the first half of 2014, according to a statement from MCHI-CREDAI Property Expo.

The housing demand has also witnessed 23% growth year-on-year, it said.

This has led banks and housing finance institutions to take various initiatives to actively target the end user. The banks and housing finance institutions had offers that would suit every pocket and most of them made their presence felt by offering the best deals to the discerning home buyer, the statement said.

Usha Khamkar, GM, Retail Banking - Bank of Baroda, “Home loans have grown at a rate of 23 per cent year-on-year and even customers from 2-tier and 3-tier cities are now actively approaching banks for loans to purchase their dream homes.”

“At Bank of Baroda, we are offering the same rates of interests to both our own customers as well those who are not account holders of our bank. We also pass on all the benefits to the home owner in case of any change in the interest rates as soon as there is a change,” she added.

The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI-CREDAI) is a recognised body of Real Estate Developers in Mumbai and MMR with a membership of 1,800 developers.


Source : The Hindu

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FinMin may amend RBI Act for appointing 5th Deputy Governor, COO

The Finance Ministry is considering amendments to the RBI Act 1934 to enable the central bank appoint a fifth Deputy Governor and a Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Finance Ministry sources confirmed to BusinessLine that both the sides had reached an informal agreement to appoint a COO and create the post of a fifth Deputy Governor in the RBI, but with a condition.

“The condition is that COO would be from among the two Deputy Governors from the RBI’s quota, while the key criteria for appointment of fifth Deputy Governor would be a person with at least 25 years of experience in public administration and governance,” a senior Finance Ministry official said.

In order to formalise the arrangement, the Finance Ministry is likely to move a Bill to amend the RBI Act during the Budget session. Traditionally, two Deputy Governors are from the ranks of the RBI, one is an economist and the fourth one is from the commercial banking space. At present, among the four Deputy Governors, HR Khan and R Gandhi are from the ranks of the RBI, Urjit Patel is a well-known economist, while SS Mundra was earlier Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda.

There is feeling that 25-year experience criteria, if approved, will mainly help Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, as it is they who usually have such a qualification. However, even without this condition, there have been instances, such as that of YV Reddy (an IAS officer of 1964 batch), who served first as Deputy Governor (September 1996-August 2001 and September 2001-July 2002) and was then appointed Governor (September 2003-September 2008).

The COO’s appointment is part of the RBI’s human resources (HR) restructuring exercise. The proposal envisages grouping various departments into five clusters to be headed be a Deputy Governor.

The proposal also talks about creation of an additional position of a COO in the rank of Deputy Governor to head one of the five functional clusters.

On August 14, the RBI said that its board meeting on August 10 approved the broad contours of the proposals.

The board also asked the RBI to initiate a dialogue with the Government on the additional post of Deputy Governor and the legislative changes that would be required.


Source : The Hindu

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Yes Bank opts for SunTec suite

Yes Bank has selected the Xelerate product suite from SunTec Business Solutions for its revenue management and business assurance needs in the retail banking division.

Based out of here, SunTec already has a list featuring marquee clients from the financial world from Visa Europe, HSBC, ING, Mashreq and Standard Bank to American Express.

REVENUE STREAMS

YES Bank will use SunTec’s technology to help launch new product packages to manage its revenue streams more effectively, a spokesman said here.

The Bank believes that customer experience differentiation it can obtain with the help of SunTec will be the key to achieving its strategic objectives.

In addition, the Xelerate product suite will be used to streamline the bank’s pricing and billing process.

The Bank had selected SunTec’s technology after conducting a thorough evaluation process, says Pralay Mondal, Senior Group President, Branch and Retail Banking, YES Bank.

SunTec’s product suite incorporates the best aspects of technology from banking systems around the world, he added.

FUTURISTIC SOLUTIONS

“We see real value in SunTec’s vision in providing futuristic solutions. Partnering with SunTec gives us the ability to quickly develop new products and improve our existing offerings.

“We are looking forward to working with SunTec to put our customer-centric business strategies into action.”

Nanda Kumar, CEO of SunTec, said that the Indian retail banking sector is full of exciting opportunities.

The company is looking forward to helping YES Bank take advantage of these opportunities, he added.


Source : The Hindu

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