HDFC Bank introduces Missed Call Banking

Private Sector Bank HDFC Bank has also started "missed call banking". The customer who intends to use this service has to register his mobile with the bank. Once his mobile number is linked to his account a customer can call any of the Toll Free number that the bank provides to get the services.

Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities‐ Cumulative, 2013

The Government of India will be issuing Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative, 2013. What are these ? Till now the deposits you used to keep with the banks and other financial instituitions will we having fixed rate of interest for a fixed tenure. They were not taking into account the Inflation factor into account. Now the government wants to give returns that is 1.5% above the rate of inflation. So you will be sure that you are beating inflation and getting a better return. Let us get to details of the offer;

1. The issue will be from December 23, 2013 to December 31, 2013. The Government of India reservers the right to close the issue earlier.

2. The issue will be in the form of Bonds.


3. The bonds may be invested by
a) An individual in his individual capacity, on joint basis, on anyone or survivor basis, on behalf of minor as father/mother/legal guardian
b) A HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
c) “Charitable Institution” to mean a company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act 1956 OR an institution which has obtained a Certificate of Registration as a charitable institution in accordance with a law in force OR any institution which has obtained a certificate from Income Tax Authority for the purposes of Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
d) “University” means a university established or incorporated by a Central, State or Provincial Act, and includes an institution declared under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), to be an University for the purpose of that act.

4. There is limit on investment. The minimum limit is Rs.5,000/- and maximum limit is Rs.5,00,000/- per applicant per year.

5. The interest on the Bonds will not get any tax benefit and hence is taxable under Income Tax Act, 1961 according to relevant tax status of the bond holders.

6. The bonds will be issued at par. Minimum amount of Rs.5000 (face value) and in multiples thereof.

7. The applications can be made in cash/draft/cheque/online through internet banking. The cheques and drafts should be in favour of the bank (receiving office) and payable at the place where the application is tendered.

8. The date of issue of bonds will be date of receipt of funds/realization of draft/cheque at the receiving office.

9. The bonds will be issued in the form of Bonds Ledger Account (BLA) and held with Reserve Bank of India. A certificate of holding in specified form will be issued to the holder of bonds.

10. The applications for the bonds in the form of Bonds Ledger Account will be received at
a) Branches of State Bank of India, Associate Banks, Nationalised Banks, three private sector banks (i.e. HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., AXIS Bank Ltd.) and SHCIL during their working hours.
b) Any other bank or number of branches of the banks and SHCIL where the applications will be received as specified by the Reserve Bank of India in this behalf from time to time.

11. The nomination facility for the bond holders are available.
a) A sole holder or a sole surviving holder of a Bond(s), being an individual, may nominate in the Form annexed to this notification or as near thereto as may be, one or more persons who shall be entitled to the Bonds and the payment thereon in the event of his/her death.
b) Where any amount is payable to two or more nominees and either or any of them dies before such payment becomes due, the title to the Bonds shall rest in the surviving nominee or nominees and the amount being due thereon shall be paid accordingly. In the event of the nominee or nominees predeceasing the holder, the holder may make a fresh nomination.
c) No nomination shall be made in respect of the Bonds issued in the name of a minor.
d) A nomination made by a holder of Bonds may be varied by a fresh nomination as near thereto as may be, or may be cancelled by giving notice in writing to the Receiving Office in the Form annexed to the notification.
e) Every nomination and every cancellation or variation shall be registered at the Reserve Bank of India through the authorised bank and shall be effective from the date of such registration.
f) If the nominee is a minor, the holder of Bonds may appoint any person to receive the Bonds/amount due in the event of his/her death during the minority of the nominee.

12. The bonds shall be transferable to nominee (s) on the death of holder (only individual/s)

13. The bonds will bear interest at the rate of 1.5% (fixed rate) per annum + inflation rate calculated with respect to final combined Consumer Price Index [(CPI) Base; 2010 = 100]. Final combined CPI will be used with a lag of three months to calculate incremental inflation rate (i.e. final combined CPI for September would be used as reference CPI for all days of December). Interest will be compounded with half‐yearly rests and will be payable on maturity along with the principal.

14. The bonds are not traded in secondary market. The good point is that the bonds can be kept as collateral with the banks to get loans frombanks, Financial Institutions and Non‐Banking Financial Company (NBFC). The lien to that effect will be marked in the depository (RBI) by the authorised banks.

15. The bonds are repayable on expiration of 10 years from the date of issue. The investor will be advised by the authorised bank one month before maturity regarding the ensuing maturity of Bonds advising them to provide a Letter of Acquaintance, confirming the NEFT/NECS account details, etc. to the authorised bank. If everything is in order, the investor will be paid within maximum five days of the maturity.

16. Premature repayment/redemption before the maturity date is allowed after one year of holding from the date of issue for senior citizens, i.e. 65 and above years of age and for all others, after 3 (three) years of holding, subject to the penalty charges at the rate of 50% of the last coupon payable. Early redemption to be allowed only on coupon date.

Cautious banks want FD to issue Credit Cards

Stung by rising non-performing assets (15 per cent in some cases), several banks have now started issuing cards linked to fixed deposits (FDs). ICICI Bank, the biggest credit card issuer, has made it conditional for some of the credit card applicants, who do not meet the bank’s eligibility criteria, to open FDs under a scheme called Fixed Deposit Instant Credit Card. Axis Bank has also launched such a scheme Other banks said this product was a part of their offering, but they were not pushing it aggressively. In this scheme, banks ask applicants to open an FD account with an auto-renewal facility. The minimum amount is Rs 20,000 and the maximum Rs 3 lakh. The credit limit on the card is pegged at 85 per cent of the FD amount. If the cardholder fails to pay the outstanding amount on the credit card within 90 days from the date of the statement, the bank has the right to liquidate the FD and set off the credit card charges against it.

Life insurance foray by UBI and BOI

Two major public sector banks, Union Bank of India and Bank of India have joined their hands along with The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Ins. Co., of Japan to provide Life Insurance to public. The compnay will be called Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance. And here is the rest of it.

Special Housing Loan Scheme

As per the directives of RBI the Public Sector Banks have formed Special Housing Loan Scheme for borrowers availing housing loans till 30.06.2009. These loans are available with a host of features. But the scheme is available for those purchasing first house and upto limit of Rs.20 lakhs only. The rate of interest for loans upto Rs.5 lakhs is 8.50% p.a fixed for 5 years. The rate of interest for loans from 5 to 20 lakhs is 9.25% p.a. fixed for 5 years. After five years borrower has the option to continue the loan under fixed option or floating option. And there will be no processing charges on the loans and pre-payment penalty is also not there. And added to this the borrower will get free insurance cover.

ING Vysya's new deposit scheme

Private lender ING Vysya Bank has hiked interest rate on 120-day deposits by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent in a bid to attract more funds. The bank has created a new slab of 120 days for fixed deposits. This slab was earlier clubbed with 91-364 days, drawing 7.50 per cent interest rate. The new fixed deposit scheme has been effected from December 15.

New product from Karur Vysya

Karur Vysya Bank has introduced yet another variant of its multi-city current account product - KVB Economy.The other variants include KVB Standard, KVB Classic, KVB Premium, KVB Gold and KVB Platinum. The major difference in opting for a particular variant of this product is in the maintenance of the minimum average balance. KVB Economy would require current account holders to maintain a minimum average balance of Rs 10,000.

SBI 'Easy' card payment option

SBI Card announced 'Paycash' payment option for its customers through Easy Bill payment outlets in India. This facility will enable SBI Card customers to make direct cash payment for their outstandings at 3,500 available Easy Bill merchant outlets through out India. This is for the first time a credit card company has introduced a cash payment option.

Kotak Bank’s product for salaried

Kotak Mahindra Bank’s ‘salary 2 wealth’ account has been designed for the present day salaried professional. Launching the product, the bank’s Group Head (Retail Liabilities and Branch Banking), Mr K.V.S. Manian, said the Kotak Salary 2 Wealth proposition would provide the salaried professional an ideal platform to achieve his aspirations by going beyond the vanilla corporate salary account. Besides offering conventional banking service, the Salary 2 Wealth account would provide offerings such as reimbursement account, investment account, demat account with facility to transfer funds (from and to) the linked online trading account provided by Kotak Securities, preferential loans, office banking and many more options.

Karur Vysya plans multi-city savings deposit scheme

The Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) a leading private sector bank in south India, will launch a new multi-city savings deposit scheme that will enable account holders operate accounts in any select city without incurring additional charges. The bank chairman PT Kuppuswamy said the scheme - sb freedom account, would be made operational before July 15 in 20 select cities in the first phase and subsequently extended to more cities. Waiver of bank charges for collection of local and outstation cheques, cheques and dividend warrants, issuance of demand drafts without commission rates, free funds transfer within KVB accounts were some of the key features of the scheme, he said. Kuppusamy said KVB planned to open 25 branches before the end of this fiscal.

KVB unveils triple `S' scheme

Karur Vysya Bank has unveiled the triple `S' - Spouse Senior Citizen Deposit Scheme. The scheme is applicable to term deposits opened in the joint names of husband and wife (where one is a senior citizen). In the event of the demise of either of the partners during the pendency of the deposit, the surviving spouse would be eligible to receive one per cent additional interest over the card rate of special interest offered to senior citizens from the date of the original deposit till maturity.

Canara Bank's new loan scheme

Canara Bank has launched a retail loan for financing tax return preparers selected by the Ministry of Finance. The loan scheme, called Canara Guide, was introduced to provide self-employment opportunities to unemployed or partially employed graduates all over the country. Under the scheme, up to Rs 60,000 would be sanctioned at interest of one per cent below the benchmark prime lending rates of the bank, with a repayment period of 60 months. A margin of 15 per cent would have to be brought in by the borrowers. The preparers would also be entitled to a six-month repayment holiday

ING Vysya's new savings scheme

ING Vysya Bank has launched a scheme known as `Freedom Savings Account.' The features of the account are a zero quarterly balance requirement and a zero penal charge for non-maintenance of minimum quarterly balance. The account holders would also be eligible for an international debit card. The account features would not be restricted to just salary earners, but would be available to all general customers of the bank. The account comes with an annual fee of Rs 1,000.

City Union Banks New Deposit Scheme

Its called CUB 500. The deposit is for 500 days. The interest payable is 10.75% p.a. for senior citizens its 11.00% p.a.. The minimum deposit to be kept is Rs.10,000/- and the Maximum is Rs.2,00,00,000/-. The deposit is effective from June 11,2007.

New Deposit

Bank of Baroda has increased its interest rate to 9.5 % on Fixed Deposits. This is a unique scheme which offers higher interest rates to customer for a short period of one year. The major attraction is that the scheme provides for investing for any amount as low as Rs.1000 and there is no lock-in period. The scheme takes effect from 18.05.07.Senior Citizens will get an additional 0.5% on fixed deposits under the scheme i.e.10 % p.a. Dena Bank launched a new Deposit scheme " Dena Diamond Deposit Scheme" to mark its 70th Foundation Day on 26th May 2007. The new scheme offers the depositors an opportunity to earn higher interest rate of 9.60 percent for deposits of maturity period of 700 days. The senior citizens will get 10.10 percent interest in this scheme. The minimum amount of deposit is Rs.10,000/-.The scheme also has a special feature of part withdrawal in multiples of Rs.5000/-.

New Product

Karnataka Bank Ltd has introduced a new term deposit scheme - KBL-400 - with a higher interest rate offer, with effect from May 21. The new deposit scheme for 400 days carries 10 per cent interest. Senior citizens will get 10.50 per cent for their deposit of 400 days. The new scheme will remain valid for a limited period. The bank has also raised interest rate for deposits under `KBL Tax Planner' (meant for income-tax exemption) to 9.50 per cent (8.25 per cent) to general public and 10.25 per cent (9 per cent) to senior citizens