SBI Life Insurance announces foray into health insurance biz with its 'Hospital Cash' plan

NEW DELHI: SBI Life Insurance today announced a foray into the health insurance segment with the launch of its 'Hospital Cash' plan, which provides a fixed daily allowance to policyholders for each day of hospitalisation.

The Hospital Cash plan guards against the erosion of policyholders' accumulated savings on account of medical bills by providing a fixed daily allowance to the insured person for every day of hospitalisation, irrespective of the hospital bill amount, SBI Life said in a statement.

"Our foray into health insurance is aimed at addressing the issues of rising healthcare costs and acute under-penetration of health insurance in India," SBI Life MD & CEO M N Rao said.

The plan is available for a fixed policy term of three years and offers the flexibility of premium payment options, with collection on a yearly, half-yearly or quarterly basis. The cover can be renewed till the age of 75 years.

Hospital Cash's Daily Hospitalisation Cash Benefit (DHCB) provides policyholders with a 100 per cent fixed payout from the first day of hospitalisation without any deductions.

Furthermore, in case the insured person is admitted into an ICU, the amount receivable by the policyholder is twice that of the DHCB.

An additional fixed lumpsum of Rs 10,000 is payable to policyholders covering two or more family members under the plan in case the insured person is admitted to the ICU.

The product would also be made available for subscription online.

SBI Life has a market share of 21.6 per cent among the private life insurers and a total market share of 6 per cent.

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas. SBI owns 74 per cent of the total capital and the remaining 26 per cent is with BNP Paribas. SBI Life Insurance has an authorised capital of Rs 2,000 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs 1,000 crore.

Source: Economic Times

Read more »

Ficci asks RBI to cut key policy rates

New Delhi: Amid fears of slowdown and declining business confidence, industry body Ficci today asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut key policy rates in its forthcoming mid-quarterly review of credit policy.

"A cut in interest rates at this juncture would boost corporate India's confidence, including exporters, which has taken a hit," the chamber said in its 'Economy Watch'.

The RBI has raised interest rates 11 times since March 2010 by 475 basis points to tame inflation, which is hovering over 9 per cent.

RBI's next mid-quarter monetary policy review is scheduled for September 16.

Ficci said that there is now an increasing apprehension that the government may miss the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 per cent for the year 2011-2012.

On Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme, it said that the withdrawal of the popular tax benefit scheme may act as a disincentive for exporters after September.

During the April-July period, exports grew by 53.98 per cent to USD 108.34 billion from USD 70.36 billion during the corresponding period previous year.

Source: Financial Express

Read more »

Nupur Mitra to be next CMD of Dena Bank

The government has appointed Nupur Mitra as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Dena Bank.

The notification of the appointment, to be effective November 1, 2011, has been released recently.

At present, Mitra is the Executive Director of the Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank and will replace incumbent DL Rawal, who superannuates on October 31.

Mitra started her career with Bank of India in 1975 and served the bank in different capacities.

For the first quarter ended June, Dena Bank reported 21% jump in net profit to Rs 168.09 crore against Rs 138.79 crore in the same period a year ago.

Source: Business Standard

Read more »

FM, bankers, CMs to discuss credit flow, fin inclusion

Amidst concerns of economic slowdown, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will review the problems concerning credit offtake and farm sector lending in a meeting with Chief Ministers of western and central region, and heads of PSU banks, in Mumbai on September 17.

The meeting will discuss the progress of centrally-sponsored schemes, state-wise flow of credit to the agriculture sector, credit-deposit ratio and loan to weaker section of society among others, official sources said.

Implementation of Aam Admi Bima Yojana (insurance for common man) and co-contributory pension scheme Swavalambam, important priorities of the UPA-II government, would also be reviewed in the meeting among others, they added.

Financial inclusion, payment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and revival of short-term cooperative credit are also key discussion points of the meeting.

It has been decided to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2,000 by March 2012, Mukherjee had said in this year's Budget speech.

"The banks have identified about 73,000 such habitations for providing banking facilities using appropriate technologies," he had said.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of slowdown in GDP growth and food inflation surpassing the double digit mark. The economic growth rate for the first quarter of the current fiscal slipped to 7.7%, the lowest level in the last one-and-a-half years.

At the same time, industrial growth in the country stood at 8.8% in June.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will attend the meeting. Heads of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have also been called for the meeting.

The meeting will also take stock of the financial performance of the banks. The credit flow to the productive sectors would also be assessed.

Last year, similar meetings were held across all the regions of the country where chief ministers interacted with the Finance Minister and the heads of the public sector banks.

 

Source: Business Standard

Read more »

SKS may approach RBI for bank licence

SKS Microfinance, which is passing through rough weathers, may approach the Reserve Bank for a banking licence, according to sources.

"Finer details are being worked out and (SKS Microfinance) may approach the RBI for licence after the Board of Directors approval," a source said.

SKS Microfinance CEO and Managing Director M R Rao said the company does not see any major issue in meeting the eligibility criteria set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"Our net worth is Rs 1,563 crore and we are already meeting the capitalisation norm. The draft guidelines stipulate that 25% of the branches should be located in rural/unbanked areas. Ninety per cent of our branches will qualify for the same," he said.

Rao said the composition of the board also meets the eligibility criteria with 50% of the positions being held by independent directors.

He said the bank structure brings in a lot more stability by mitigating a few risks present in the micro finance business model.

"Most importantly, as a bank you have funding capability and access to low-cost funds which will help reduce interest rates for borrowers. Of course, the operating cost and compliance cost could increase," Rao told PTI.

The average cost of funds is currently at 12.75%, the source said.

SKS which is passing through rough weathers after the introduction of Andra Pradesh government's Microfinance Act last year, has Rs 1,135 crore outstanding loan amount in the state, leading to severe pressure on company's financials.

The provisions in the Andhra Pradesh MFI Act have hampered its growth in the state, resulting in a five% reduction in the company's overall loan portfolio, SKS Microfinance Chairman Vikram Akula said in the annual report.

Analysts, however, feel that the RBI will have to check financial stability of the company before taking a desicion.

"The RBI will have to check financial stability of the company after the huge losses they declared in terms of write offs and provisions. In case they are granted licence, they will get funds 3-4% cheaper," Vaibhav Agrawal, Banking head, Angel Broking said.

The RBI draft guidelines on new bank licences stipulate 25% of the NBFC branches should be located in rural areas. Besides, the minimum capital requirement to set up a bank by a corporate is Rs 500 crore.

Source: Business Standard

Read more »