SBI joins hands with National Insurance

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today entered into a tie-up with the National Insurance Company (NICL) to offer non-life cover to its savings account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).

The bank will offer personal accidental death and disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh under the scheme, it said in a release.

The customer will have to pay an annual premium of only Rs. 12. All the savings account holders in the age group 18 to 70 years will be eligible for the cover.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Karur Vysya Bank Q4 net jumps 15.2%

Private sector Karur Vysya Bank today registered 15.2 per cent jump in net profit at Rs. 137.83 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015.

The Tamil Nadu-based bank had registered net profit of Rs. 119.59 crore in the January-March quarter of previous fiscal, 2013-14.

For 2014-15, the net profit of the bank grew by 8 per cent to Rs. 464.28 crore, from Rs. 429.60 crore in the previous fiscal.

Total income for the January-March 2015 quarter went up to Rs. 1,507.61 crore, from Rs. 1,468.45 crore registered during same period of the previous fiscal.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2015 total income of the bank soared to Rs. 5,976.71 crore from Rs. 5,680.41 crore registered a year ago.

The Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of Rs. 13 per equity share of Rs. 10 each for the year 2014-15, it said.

The Bank shares were trading at Rs. 495.75 a piece down by 0.80 per cent over previous close in afternoon BSE.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Robosoft develops ICICI Bank app for Apple Watch

The Udupi-based Robosoft Technologies, a mobility solutions partner, has developed a proprietary banking solution for the Apple Watch. Robosoft partnered with ICICI Bank to integrate with this solution thereby creating one of India’s premiere banking apps for the Apple Watch.

Quoting Rohith Bhat, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Robosoft Technologies Pvt Ltd, a press release said: “Soon after the Apple Watch was announced, we saw the tremendous potential the device has to offer for various new kinds of use-cases. We set out to create a unique, proprietary platform than can help banks build on-the-go banking solutions while quickly integrating with existing back-end systems.”

He said that the proprietary solution on the Apple Watch can help banks offer banking solutions on the device within two weeks as it integrates easily with their back-end systems.

The ICICI Bank app for the Apple Watch seamlessly connects a user’s device with his or her ICICI Bank account. The app integrates with ICICI’s existing back-end systems and has features specific to the minimal Apple Watch interface.

The release said that it alerts the user with actionable notifications about transactions and even has the option to pay bills instantly. It uses geo-location to fetch offers around the user’s location with precise navigation directions. It also displays available balance as well as details of last five transactions.

The app also makes use of the Glances feature of the Apple Watch where a simple account summary can be viewed without launching the app, it added.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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PNB first bank to roll out Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme

The Punjab National Bank has started opening Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme accounts, the first bank to do so after the scheme was formally launched in January this year. According to a statement from the bank, the scheme is available at 1,604 PNB branches across India.

Almost seven weeks ago, on 11 March, the RBI had sent a circular to the heads of 28 commercial banks spelling out the operational guidelines of the Sukanya scheme. But except for PNB, no other bank has rolled out the scheme till now.

Meanwhile, the Sukanya scheme has emerged as the hottest selling investment in post offices. More than two lakh Sukanya accounts have been opened in Post Offices since the scheme was launched. According to India Post, some 8,000-9,000 new accounts are opened every week in Mumbai alone. Given that the scheme offers 9.2 per cent returns and the maturity amount is tax free, the Sukanya scheme is a better alternative to the all-time favourite PPF.

But the Sukanya scheme is only open to girls below 10 years. For this year, the government has allowed a grace period of one year so even girls up to 11 are eligible. The scheme also has a longer tenure and partial withdrawals are allowed only after the child turns 18 or gets married.

A parent or legal guardian can open a Sukanya account in the name of a girl. To open an account, one needs to submit a copy of the birth certificate of the child, address proof and identity proof.

Source : Economic Times

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HDFC net profit increases 8% to Rs. 1,862 cr in Q4; to pay Rs. 13/share final

HDFC Ltd posted an 8 per cent rise in net profit for the fourth and last quarter ended March 2015 at Rs. 1,862 crore as against a profit of Rs. 1,723 crore in the year ago quarter.

Profit including the deferred tax liability on special reserve grew 15% at Rs. 1,982 crore.

The National Housing Bank has advised housing finance companies to create a deferred tax liability on the amount transferred to special reserve as a matter of prudence.

Individual loan disbursements grew by 16 per cent during the year. After adding back loans worth Rs. 8,249 crore sold in during the year (Rs 5,000 sold in Q4FY15), the individual book grew by 23%.

The average size of individual loans stood at Rs. 23.3 lakh as against Rs. 22.1 lakh in the previous year.

“The growth was in line with the December quarter. Further, the non-individual lending segment saw some pick-up as indicated earlier,” said Keki Mistry, Vice-Chairman and CEO, HDFC.

The ratio of individual to non-individual segment improved to 78:22 from 85:15 last year.

Net interest margin declined marginally to 4% from 4.06% a year ago.

Gross non-performing loans reduced a tad to 0.67% of the loan portfolio as at March 31, 2015 compared to 0.69% in the previous year.

As on March end 2015, the total loan book outstanding increased by 13% to Rs. 2.54 lakh crore as against Rs. 2.25 lakh crore as of March last year.

Full Year

For the full year April-March period, HDFC posted a 10% growth in the standalone profit at Rs. 5,990 crore in FY15 as compared with Rs. 5,440 crore in FY14.

Profit excluding the impact of deferred tax liability on special reserve grew 17% Rs. 6,355 crore for FY15.

On a consolidated basis, the profit growth was at 15% to Rs. 8,732 crore for the year ended March 31, 2015 after adjustment for redemption premium on Zero Coupon Debentures and impact of Deferred Tax Liability on Special Reserve.

The board of HDFC recommended a final dividend of Rs. 13 per equity share of face value Rs. 2 per share.

HDFC Ltd scrip ended down 2.34 per cent or Rs. 28.75 at Rs. 1,199 on Wednesday.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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