Finance Ministry finds holes in Jan Dhan Yojana; banks to open 3.7 crore more accounts

The finance ministry has identified several gaps in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which it flagged to bankers on Thursday, asking them to rectify them.In an eight-page note, the ministry has said banks need to open 3.75 crore additional accounts. The study pointed out that there are at least 33 districts where the coverage is under 50%. A majority of these districts are in under-developed states.In fact, in Arunachal only 29% of the households have been covered, while the level in Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 38%. Apart from accounts,...

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RBI warns against credit card fraud using its name

The Reserve Bank of India has invited public attention to a new form of fraud perpetrated in its name - a credit card issued by fraudsters in the name of the central bank.Explaining the modus operandi, RBI said fraudsters are sending credit cards which allow withdrawal of money up to a certain limit, albeit a small sum, from a bank account. Having gained the confidence of the victim, the fraudster gets him to deposit a huge sum of money in the same bank account. Once the money is deposited, the card stops working and that would also be the...

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No big job cuts after Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya merger: Uday Kotak

Kotak Mahindra Bank chief Uday Kotak has assured that there will not be “any dramatic” reduction immediately in the number of employees following the merger of ING Vysya Bank. While ING has around 10,000 employees, Kotak Bank has around 29,000.“We believe total number of employees will grow over time, but we don’t see any dramatic reduction in the net number of people in a hurry,” the Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Bank Uday Kotak told PTI after he announced the merger deal last evening.“We have no plans to do any massive...

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IRDA seeks previous 4 years’ data from life insurers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked life insurance companies to submit data for the last four years to the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB).The data should be submitted in the prescribed format from the year 2010-11 to 2013-14 before December 15, 2014, Sriram Taranikanti, Executive Director, IRDA said in a circular.In addition, the insurers would need to submit data for the periods ending September and March of each financial year within a period of one month from the last day of respective month.``It may be...

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StanChart opens 100th branch in India

The largest foreign bank in the country, Standard Chartered Bank, has opened its 100th branch in the country.The milestone branch was opened by the bank in Bareilly District of Uttar Pradesh.Standard Chartered Bank has branches in 43 cities and a combined customer base of around 2 million retail customers and around 2,500 corporate and institutional relationships. Source : Thehindubusinesslin...

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Corp Bank Jan Dhan camp

Corporation Bank will conduct Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) mega camp at Vamanjoor in Mangalore on November 22. A press release by the bank said here on Friday that Snehlata Shrivastava, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Union Ministry of Finance, will be the chief guest at the function. SR Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, and BK Shrivastav, Executive Director, will be present. Source : Thehindubusinesslin...

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Kotak-ING Vysya merger: good fit, good deal

ING Vysya Bank makes a good fit for Kotak Mahindra Bank in many ways. The merger will help Kotak Bank expand its reach at a time when competition in the sectoris set to grow.Kotak’s network of 641 branches will nearly double with the addition of 573 branches of ING Vysya Bank. Kotak Bank, currently present in metros, will benefit from ING Vysya’s better mix of rural and urban branches along with its strong presence in South India. The chunk of Kotak’s branches are in West and North India. Next, ING Vysya has been building its high-yielding...

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Axis Bank to increase unsecured retail portfolio

Leading private bank Axis Bank would gradually increase the proportion of unsecured retail portfolio by increasing the credit cards business, an official said.“We want to scale up the retail unsecured portfolio in a graded manner over time”, Rajiv Anand, Group Executive and Head (Retail Banking) of Axis Bank said.Anand said that the bank was quite comfortable with the present underlying portfolio. “With economy showing signs of picking up, we are willing take more risks by increasing the unsecured retail component. “Presently, the proportion...

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Bharatiya Mahila Bank launches net banking

Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd (BMB) on Wednesday launched its internet banking facility by the name ‘BMBSmartBanking’.This facility was launched at the hands of Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director, BMB.A newly designed website of the bank was also launched.Currently, this women focused bank has branch network of 33 branches and all of them on core banking solutions with onsite ATMs.Speaking on the occasion, Usha Anathasubramanian said the internet facility came with several value added services besides regular features.She also...

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RBI urges companies to remit tax dues in advance

The RBI has requested companies to pay Income Tax in advance using online or alternate channels of banking to avoid last minute rush towards the end of December.“The Reserve Bank of India has appealed to income tax assessees to remit their income tax dues sufficiently in advance of the due date. It has also stated that assessees can use alternate channels like select branches of agency banks or the facility of online payment of taxes offered by these banks. These will obviate the inconvenience involved in standing in long queues at the Reserve...

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Jaitley to meet PSB chiefs on Thursday

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet the chief executives of public sector banks (PSBs) here on Thursday.Earlier, this quarterly performance review meeting was to be taken up and addressed by the new Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia.However, both Jaitley and Adhia will now together meet chief executives of PSBs, official sources said.This meeting assumes importance as the entire public sector banks system are at crossroads, facing several challenges including weak asset quality and questionable selection process for chief executives.Besides...

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Axis Bank launches smart self-service terminal

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has launched a smart self-service terminal that enables customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine.“Customers can initiate a deposit transaction through the smart self-service terminal even without using a debit card and will receive instant credit for the deposited amount. There is no cap on the amount of cash deposited by the customer through these terminals, provided his/her PAN details are available with the bank,” Axis Bank said in a statement.Cash recyclingThe...

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Banks turn to Facebook and Twitter to keep track of education loan takers

Be careful of friends and followers. Some banks have started using Facebook and Twitter to try and keep track of students who have taken education loans from them, casting a wider net to keep defaults in check.When payments are delayed, these banks use information available on social networking websites to track down customers and get in touch with them with the help of local branch staffers. In some cases, banks may even be able to send or post reminder messages to them through such websites.State-run banks have over 2.6 million education...

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HDFC to pare stake for foreign investment in bank

Parent HDFC will pare its stake in HDFC Bank to create room for foreign investors. HDFC, the country's oldest mortgage lender which owns 22.5 per cent in HDFC Bank, will not step in as a buyer when the bank issues shares to local and foreign investors to raise Rs 10,000 crore, said three people aware of the decision.The institution will let its stake dip to a little over 20 per cent in HDFC Bank where `foreign ownership', as defined by the government, is close to the maximum permissible 74 per cent. "HDFC will not participate in the share purchase...

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Axis Bank raises $500 mn through overseas bonds

India’s third largest private lender, Axis Bank raised $500 million from the overseas debt market through unsecured bonds at a fixed coupon rate of 3.25 per cent for a 5.5 year tenure.“The deal was launched at initial price thoughts at US Treasuries + 195 bps but the final pricing was 25 bps tighter than initial price thoughts at T + 170 bps… The unsecured notes are issued by Axis Bank’s DIFC branch, Dubai and are rated Baa2 by Moody's, BBB- by S&P and BBB- by Fitch,” Axis bank said in a statement.The bonds were oversubscribed from investors...

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FM’s thoughts, actions to augur well for economy: Citi

Government’s reform measures on GST, labour and land acquisition laws should augur well for the economy and equity markets, global brokerage firm Citigroup said today.It said there is a lot happening that should see the light soon with respect to Goods and Services Tax (GST), land acquisition law modifications and changes to labour laws.“The FM’s thoughts and actions should augur very well for India’s economy and its equity market,” Citigroup said in a report on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s meeting with investors yesterday.“We were impressed...

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74% accounts in Jan Dhan Yojana are with zero balance

Around Rs. 5,400 crore have been deposited in banks in over seven crore bank accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) of which 74 per cent accounts are with zero balance, according to an RTI reply.The data provided by Department of Financial Services says that as on November 7, 2014 a total of 7.1 crore bank accounts have been opened of which 5.3 crore were accounts with ‘Zero balance’.The reply provided to activist Subhash Agrawal said as on November 7, the total balance in these accounts was Rs. 5,482 crore. Majority of...

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No PAN requirement for investment in Kisan Vikas Patra

The Finance Ministry has said that there will not be requirement of Permanent Account Number or PAN in puttig money in relaunched Kisan Vikas Patra. There will also not be any upper limit on investment.The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad relaunched KVP on Tuesday. The scheme aims to boost saving and use them for long term capital requirement. "This will be a bearer instrument just like currency and easy to encash," he said.In view of the popular demand and to revitalize Small Savings, the Finance...

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New director nominated on RBI board

The Government has nominated Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, as the Director of Central Board of Directors of the RBI.“The Central Government has nominated Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi as a director on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India vice Gurdial Singh Sandhu,” RBI said in a statement.“Dr. Hasmukh Adhia’s nomination is with effect from November 11, 2014 and until further orders, RBI added.Adhia is a 1981 batch Gujarat cadre...

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FinMin notifies higher limit for tax savings bank deposits

Following the Budget announcement, the Finance Ministry has notified higher limit under bank term deposit for Income Tax benefit.Now, for the current fiscal, one can deposit Rs. 1.5 lakh as against Rs. 1 lakh in a bank deposit to get tax benefit under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act. This means amount deposited up to Rs. 1.5 lakh in a 5-year term deposit will be deducted from income before calculation of personal income tax. The new notification will come into effect from November 13.In this year's Budget, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley...

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Rate cut by RBI will give ‘good fillip’ to economy: Jaitley

Pitching for a rate cut by RBI, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said lower cost of capital will give a “good fillip” to the economy.“I am quite clear in my mind that the cost of capital has to come down. Inflation has moderated, global fuel price has eased. Therefore, if RBI, which is a highly professional organisation, in its wisdom decides to bring down the cost of capital (it) will give a good fillip to the Indian economy,” he said.Delivering the key mote address at the Citi’s Investor Summit, Jaitley hoped that as a professional...

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Axis Bank hits overseas debt market with $500 m issue

Top private lender Axis Bank today hit the overseas debt market with a benchmark issue to raise at least $500 million in a 5.5-year money, merchant banking sources said here.“Axis Bank today launched fixed-rate senior unsecured notes in the dollar-denominated debt market to raise at least $500 million. Depending on the pricing and demand, the bank may raise more than $500 million through these Regulation S notes,” a merchant banker said.India’s third largest private lender has given a price guidance of 1.95 per cent above the US treasury, the...

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Central Bank of India launches 'Cent Aspire'

You can now get the power of liquidity in a fixed deposit scheme.State-owned Central Bank of India has launched a novel deposit scheme that has a free credit card bundled with it.Under 'Cent Aspire', any individual can get a free credit card against fixed deposit with the bank for deposit amount of Rs. 20,000 and above, K.K.Taneja, Field General Manager, Central Bank of India, told reporters here on Monday."The main idea is to ensure that our customers in semi-urban and rural areas get a credit card product and liquidity in a fixed deposit...

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