New actuaries on bank pension

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has appointed a panel of two actuaries-D Basu from Kolkata and Prasad from Hyderabad-to sort out pension and other post-retirement benefits of the banking industry. A senior IBA official said the appointment followed consensus between IBA and the United Forum for Bank Employees (UFBU), the umbrella body of various bank employees' unions, recently. Also, apex employees' unions have hinted that they may copy some features of the Sixth Pay Commission report for the central government employees. The common parameter to be followed by the panel of two actuaries is based on two parts - financial and non-financial. The financial parameter comprises subjects like return on investment, wage revision and extra pension liabilities. The non-financial parameter handles issues like debt, longevity, date of attrition and a host of other related issues.

ICICI Bank doubles balance for SB account

ICICI Bank has doubled the minimum quarterly average balance to be maintained in a savings account to Rs 10,000 from Rs 5,000 now. The bank has sent a notice to its customers informing them about the same. The change is effective from July 1. “According to the existing terms governing your savings account, non-maintenance of quarterly average balance in any quarter attracts a charge of Rs 750 (plus service tax as applicable, currently 12.36 per cent) or such other charges as may be made applicable from time to time,” the notice said

Corporation Bank launches reverse mortgage plan

Corporation Bank on Tuesday introduced two new facilities - national electronic funds transfer (NEFT) through ATMs, and reverse mortgage - for its customers. With NEFT through ATMs, the debit cardholder of the bank can use ATMs to submit the NEFT request without the use of any paper application form. The reverse mortgage loan scheme - Corp Shelter - is started by the bank for the benefit of senior citizens. Launching the ‘Corp Shelter’ scheme in Mangalore, Mr M. Narendra, Chief General Manager of the bank, said that to qualify for a reverse mortgage the borrower must be at least 60 years of age. The loan amount can be from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Asked about the interest rates for the loan, he said as on April 15 the floating rate for the loan is 10 per cent and fixed rate is 10.50 per cent. The meeting was informed that the bank has become the first public sector bank to launch NEFT through ATMs for its customers. Ms Devaki Muthukrishnan, Regional Director of Reserve Bank of India, launched the facility of NEFT through ATMs at Bangalore on Tuesday. The parents who hold Corporation Bank debit card can now remit money to their wards across the country almost instantaneously with this facility. Funds transfer transaction under this facility will be available during the currency of NEFT clearing window and is open from 7 a.m. to 3.45 p.m. The cardholder can transfer up to a maximum of Rs 15,000 per day. The advantage of NEFT is its inter-operability between banks as the funds can be transferred to the beneficiaries’ accounts of any bank. At present, over 43,000 branches of scheduled commercial banks in India are having the facility of NEFT.