SBI to consider rate cut after RBI credit policy

State Bank of India has said that it will consider reducing the lending rates after the announcement of the Reserve Bank’s annual credit policy on April 17.

“Of course, we will look into reducing the interest rates in the future, but it will depend on the magnitude of the CRR cut (by the RBI),” the SBI Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking), Mr A. Krishna Kumar, said at the sixth International Banking and Finance Conference here today.

“I expect the cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR), but not sure about the repo rate,” he said while talking about expectations from the RBI’s annual credit policy which is scheduled to be unveiled on April 17.

CRR is the portion of deposit that banks are required to keep in cash with the Reserve Bank. At present, it is 4.75 per cent.

The SBI Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri, had earlier said that RBI might cut CRR by 0.75 per cent in its annual policy, but might retain the short-term lending rate at the existing level of 8.5 per cent.

“We have already reduced our interest rate on educational loan segment and we will also reduce the interest rate in the SME sector soon,” Mr Kumar said.

The reduction of interest rates in other segments, he said, “will largely depend on what the RBI does in its annual monetary policy to be announced on April 17”.

The state-owned lender is also targeting 20-25 per cent overall loan growth in almost all segments in the current fiscal.

“We target 20-25 per cent in the SME sector only and for overall growth of the bank, we aim at the same growth rate (20-25 per cent) during the fiscal as well,” Mr Kumar said.

On rising bad loans, he said: “we are also looking at a major improvement on the asset quality of the bank in the current fiscal”.

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e-banking bts online shopping: Netizens

A majority of Indians prefer to use the internet for banking and other financial services than shopping online, shows a new survey.

Almost 57 per cent of Indian respondents using the internet prefer to bank online and use other financial services due to hassle- free easy access and time saving feature of online banking, according to the survey conducted by research firm Ipsos.

Checking information on products and services online comes a close second at 53 per cent while 50 per cent shop for products online. Around 42 per cent of respondents in India surfed online to look for jobs in the last three months, the survey said.

"Online banking has made things much easier for the people and it saves a lot of time. It has eliminated the hassle of the traditional way of banking where one had to stand in the queue and fill up several forms," Ipsos India Head (Marketing Communication) Biswarup Banerjee said.

Most of the banks in India have introduced customer- friendly online banking facility with advanced security features to protect customers against cybercrime.

"The easy registration process for net banking has improved customers' access to several banking products, increased customer loyalty, facilitated money transfer to any banks across India and has helped banks to attract new customers," he added.

The Indian results closely track the global trends as well. Conducted among 19,216 people from 24 countries, the survey showed banking and keeping track of finances, shopping and searching for jobs are the main tasks of internet users around the globe.

Overall, 60 per cent of people surveyed used the web to check their bank account and other financial assets in the past 90 days, making it the most popular use of the internet, Ipsos said.

Globally, shopping was not too far behind at 48 per cent, the survey showed, and 41 per cent went online in search of a job.

In terms of country preferences, almost 90 per cent of respondents in Sweden use e-banking.

Online banking has also caught on in a big way in nations like France, Canada, Australia, Poland, South Africa and Belgium, the survey showed.

The Germans and British come on top for using online shopping with 74 per cent of respondents in both countries having bought something online in the past three months. They are followed by 68 per cent of respondents in Sweden, 65 per cent in US and 62 per cent in South Korea.

Source: Financial Express

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No holiday for most, banks to remain open, work full day tomorrow

After three holidays this week, all public sector and many private banks would function full day tomorrow.

Banks usually are open for public dealings between 10 am and 1 pm on Saturdays. However, the Finance Ministry has asked all the public sector banks to function full day this Saturday, official sources said.

Country's largest bank SBI has said that all its branches will remain open till 5 pm Saturday.

"In order to facilitate transactions for our customers, it has been decided to keep all branches of our bank open for public transactions up to 5 pm on April 7, 2012," State Bank of India (SBI) said in a notice.

Many private sector lenders, including HDFC Bank and Karur Vysya Bank, have also decided to work full day this Saturday.

"On account of consecutive holidays on April 5 and 6, all branches of Karur Vysya Bank will remain open for public transactions like any other working full day on April 7 for the convenience of our customers," the bank said in a notice.

Banks were closed for public dealing on Monday. They again remained closed on April 5 & 6 on account of Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively.

Source: Financial Express

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Corporation Bank cuts home loan rates marginally

Corporation Bank has marginally cut housing loan interest rates with effect from April 1.

A bank release said here that the interest rate on loans up to Rs 25 lakh for a period up to five years will be 10.75 per cent. This was 10.8 per cent earlier.

Interest rates for other tenures such as five years and up to 10 years; above 10 years and up to 15 years; and above 15 years and up to 25 years remain unchanged at 10.8 per cent, 10.9 per cent, and 11 per cent, respectively.

vinayakaj@thehindu.co.in

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PNB Ernakulam circle posts Rs 107-cr profit

The Ernakulam circle of Punjab National Bank has crossed Rs 100-crore mark in net profit during last fiscal.

The net profit as on March 31 stood at Rs 107 crore, Mr K.V. Rajesh, deputy general manager and circle head of the region, said. The total business of the region is nearing Rs 5,000 crore.

The Ernakulam circle of Punjab National Bank consists of its branches in eight districts from Trivandrum to Trichur. The bank recently launched exclusive salary accounts for defence/police personnel, nurses of private hospitals and State government employees. This has been getting very encouraging response, Mr Rajesh said.

The bank has also helped different sections of needy people under CSR. During the period, cash deposit machines were installed in a number of branches of the circle.

Soon the bank will open branches with ATM at Aroor (Alleppey), Maradu, Piravom (Ernakulam), Karunagappally (Kollam), Erattupetta, Kothanalloor, Vaikom (Kottayam), Attingal, Varkala, Vizhinjam (Thiruvananthapuram) and Wadakkanchery in Trichur district, Mr Rajesh said.

cj@thehindu.co.in

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