Axis Bank cuts base rate by 10 bps to 9.85%

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, has revised its lending rate or base rate from 9.95 per cent p.a. to 9.85 per cent per annum.

The new rates will be effective June 30, 2015.

“Accordingly, the effective rate applicable to various fund-based credit and credit limits, which are linked to the bank’s base rate, will reduce by 10 basis points,” Axis Bank said in a statement.

Currently, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India, largest private lender ICICI Bank and second largest private lender HDFC Bank have the lowest base rate at 9.70 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India’s 75 bps repo rate cut since January this year has been passed on partially to the borrowers by most big banks. The RBI Governor, Raghuram Rajan, has been nudging banks to pass on the benefits of the repo rate cut to the end customers.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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ICICI Bank cuts lending rate to 9.7%

The country's largest private lender, ICICI Bank, has reduced its minimum lending rate or base rate by 0.05 per cent to 9.7 per cent.

After all major big banks, ICICI Bank has slashed its base rate to match the largest lender State Bank of India and its private peer HDFC Bank.

ICICI Bank's new base rate will be effective June 26.

"From July 1, 2015, interest rates on new loans and advances, will be determined with reference to I-rates (base rates)," ICICI Bank said in a statement.

Base rate is the minimum lending rate offered by banks to borrowers and all loan rates are linked to it.

RBI rate cut

This is the second base rate cut by the bank in the last three months after the April monetary policy by RBI. The central bank had cut the key policy rate earlier this month by 25 bps.

Following this, earlier this month, HDFC Bank and SBI had reduced their base rate by 15 basis points (bps) each to 9.70 per cent.

Since January, RBI had cut the repo rate by 75 bps. Most banks have reduced the base rate by 25-30 bps in response to RBI's rate cut of 75 bps.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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RBI permits banks to borrow from global institutions

With a view to providing greater flexibility in seeking access to overseas funds, the RBI on Thursday permitted banks, which are authorised to deal in foreign exchange, to borrow from international /multilateral financial institutions without approaching it for case-by-case approval.
Conditions

These international/ multilateral financial bodies will include institutions of which the Government of India is a shareholding member, institutions that have been established by more than one government, or those that have shareholding by more than one government and other international organisations.
For general banking

Such borrowings, according to a Reserve Bank of India notification, should be for the purpose of general banking business and not for capital augmentation.

According to extant regulations, Authorised Dealer (AD) category of international banks can borrow funds from their Head Office, overseas branches, correspondents outside India, or any other entity as permitted by the RBI, up to a limit of 100 per cent of their unimpaired Tier-I capital as at the close of the previous quarter or $10 million (or its equivalent), whichever is higher.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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South Indian Bank launches new mobile app

South Indian Bank has rolled out SIB Mirror, an innovative mobile application with shake to transfer funds and shake to know your balance features which are unprecedented in the banking industry.

V.G Mathew, MD & CEO launched the application at the Christ University Campus, Bangalore.

SIB Mirror, developed in-house is a one stop solution for many banking needs. The application acts as a virtual branch that offers different menus for transferring funds, tracking daily transactions, calculating interest, applying for deposits and loans and much more.

The unique features like gesture support for menu access, click to share account info and menu navigation using voice recognition make the application even more user-friendly. SIB Mirror is a free app and available in Android, i0S, Windows and Blackberry platforms, a press release said.


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Dena Bank, MUDRA Bank ink pact

Government-owned Dena Bank and MUDRA Bank signed a general refinance agreement to finance new entrepreneurs and small businesses. To promote very small businesses, the Centre aims to facilitate credit of up to Rs1 lakh crore under the MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) scheme during the current financial year. Dena Bank Chairman and MD Ashwani Kumar said the bank has already sensitised its field functionaries towards extending finance under the scheme.


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