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Apr 18, 2009

How do banks calculate interest on your savings bank account ?

The Annual Review of RBI Monetary Policy on 21st April 2009 touched one important aspect that is calculation of Interest on amount kept by you in your Savings Bank account with the Bank. The RBI has directed the banks to calculate the interest on daily balance. Now the banks are offering 3.50% interest on your balances kept in your Savings Bank account. But the calculation of interest reduces the effective interest paid by the bank to you. The banks calculate interest on the minimum balance between 10th and last day of the month. And this interest is paid to you twice in a year once in February (for the period from August to January) and in August ( for the period from February to July). The example below tells you how the banks calculate the interest; Bank: ABC Bank Account Holder : Mr.X Account Number : 12345 Date Balance 01.08.08 Rs.5000 08.08.08 Rs.25000 12.08.08 Rs.200000 19.08.08 Rs.150000 21.08.08 Rs.50000 28.08.08 Rs.3000 So for the month of August interest will be Minimum balance between 10th and 31st will be Rs.3000 So, Principle X Rate of Interest X Days -------------------------------------------------- Days in a year X 100 = 3000 X 3.50 X 31 ------------------------ 36500 = Rs.8.91 If the interest is calculated on daily balance as directed by RBI, interest will be 01.08.08 tl 07.08.08 = 6 days X Rs.5000 =30000 08.08.08 to 11.08.08= 4 days X Rs.25000 = 100000 12.08.08 to 18.08.08= 6 days X 200000 = 1200000 19.08.08 to 20.08.08 = 2 days X 150000 = 300000 21.08.08 to 28.08.08 = 7 days X 50000 = 350000 29.08.08 to 31.08.08 = 3 days X 3000 = 9000 Total Product 1989000 for 31 days So, 1989000 X 3.50 -------------------------- 36500 = Rs.190.72 See the huge difference for just one month. The major beneficiary will be the customer as he will get interest for variations in balance through out the month. Earlier, banks were taking the minimum balance between 10th and last day, whatever the large amounts you have deposited between 10th and withdrawn subsequently before last day was not earning you anything. But now you get interest on that balance also. But the bankers will be worried as they have to fork out high interest on your deposit

Guidelines soon on pre-paid payment instruments

The Reserve Bank of India plans to permit scheduled commercial banks with the eligibility criteria to issue all categories of pre-paid payment instruments and eligible non-bank entities, including NBFCs, to issue semi-closed instruments. The move is to promote cashless transactions. The Reserve Bank had earlier placed the draft guidelines for issuance and operation of such instruments in public domain for wider dissemination and feedback. Instruments such as smart card, Internet account, mobile account and mobile wallet could be some of the pre-paid payment instruments, the RBI Deputy Governor, Ms Shyamala Gopinath, said.

‘No prior approval needed to set up offsite ATMs’

In a move that would allow banks to expand their ATM networks more easily, the Reserve Bank of India has done away with the requirement of prior regulatory approval for setting up offsite ATMs. RBI had earlier dispensed with the requirement of obtaining regulator permission for onsite ATMs (ATMs at branch premises).

ICICI Bank cuts lending, deposit rates

ICICI Bank on Tuesday announced a 50 basis points cut in its corporate and retail lending rates with immediate effect. The bank also said it is cutting fixed deposit rates across various tenors by 25 to 50 basis points, with effect from April 24. ICICI Bank cut its Floating Reference Rate (FRR) for consumer loans, including home loans to 13.25 per cent from 13.75 per cent. All existing floating rate customers will be benefited by the reduction in the FRR. The bank also cut its Benchmark Advanced Rate, for its corporate customers, to 16.25 per cent from 16.75 per cent

RBI's Annual Policy Statement - 2009-10

Consistent with the current assessment of macroeconomic and monetary conditions, the Reserve Bank has decided to: 1) reduce the repo rate under the LAF by 25 basis points from 5.0% to 4.75% with immediate effect. 2) reduce the reverse repo rate under the LAF by 25 basis points from 3.5% to 3.25% with immediate effect. 3)keep the CRR unchanged at 5.0% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

SIB exceeds NPA recovery target by 50%

South Indian Bank has not only managed to contain fresh NPAs but has exceeded its NPA recovery target by 50 per cent. The bank has recovered Rs 150.95 crore, against its annual recovery target of Rs 100 crore Stating that the bank had managed it at a time when serious concerns were voiced about the asset quality in banks, its Managing Director and Chief Executive, Dr V.A. Joseph, said “it is a real challenge at times such as this. Dun & Bradstreet has identified us as the ‘Best Bank’ in asset quality (in the private sector category) and we are determined to maintain the title”. The bank’s gross NPA declined to 1.85 per cent at the end of the third quarter of the just ended fiscal compared with 2.53 per cent a year ago. Its net NPA fell by 0.1 per cent to 0.39 per cent as at end December 2008 compared with 0.49 per cent during the corresponding period of the earlier fiscal.

OBC cuts deposit rates

Oriental Bank of Commerce has reduced its term deposit rates by 25-100 basis points across various maturities. The revised rates will be applicable from April 21. For bulk deposits (Rs 1 crore & above) with maturity of 1 year & above, the interest rate has been reduced from 7.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent per annum. In case of deposits less than Rs 1 crore, the interest rate has been reduced to 8 per cent from 8.25 per cent for the time bucket of 1 to less than 2 years.

Shikha Sharma is new MD and CEO of Axis Bank

The board of Axis Bank on Monday appointed Ms Shikha Sharma, Managing Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, as the bank’s new Managing Director & CEO. The appointment, however, did not find favour with the current Chairman & CEO, Dr P.J. Nayak, who quit in protest. Ms Sharma’s appointment, which will be for a period of 5 years, beginning August 1, 2009, is subject to RBI clearance and shareholders approval. Dr Nayak, who has been at the helm of Axis Bank for close to a decade, reportedly wanted an experienced internal candidate to take charge of the bank. He had three more months to go before retirement. Besides Ms Sharma, the other contender for the top position at India’s third largest private sector bank was Mr Hemant Kaul, Executive Director, Axis Bank. Mr V. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, is tipped to take over from Ms Shikha Sharma as the Managing Director of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company. Axis Bank reported a growth of 61 per cent in net profit at Rs 581 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, against Rs 361 crore in the same quarter last year, aided by growth in its fee income and trading profits.

RBI defers foreign bank liberalization

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to put on hold a proposal to allow foreign banks to operate in the domestic market and buy private banks in the wake of the global financial turmoil that fell some banking giants. The central bank is expected to announce this when the annual monetary policy review is to be unveiled. The RBI was expected to allow foreign banks to acquire stakes in Indian banks from April 2009 as part of the second phase of the banking sector’s opening up plan, termed ‘Roadmap for presence of foreign banks in India.'

BoB to finance Nano loan

State-owned lender, Bank of Baroda, has launched a scheme for financing of Nano car booking advance, under which any one can book a Nano car by availing 100% finance for booking amount from the bank. Upfront charges for a loan of Rs 95000 required for booking of smallest variant of the car is kept at a bare minimal of Rs 2999 which also includes interest for 90 days on the financed amount of Rs 95000.

RBI widens scope of unsecured loans

The RBI tightened the prudential norms for unsecured loans and asked banks to treat the value of all rights, licences and authorisations as unsecured advances and not as tangible securities. Starting April 2009, the RBI has asked banks to disclose the amount of such advances for which intangible securities such as charge over the rights, licences, and authorisations have been taken along with the estimated value of the collateral. Separate disclosures also need to be made in the notes to accounts, the RBI said. The move would result in higher risk weight and increase the provisioning requirement for banks.