Andhra Bank plans exclusive locker centres

Andhra Bank is planning to set up exclusive locker centres across the state. CVR Rajendran, its CMD, said currently lockers were available at only bank branches, and due to heavy demand and lack of space they were not able to provide lockers to every customer. "In view of this, we are planning to set up exclusive locker centres, which will not only enable the bank to satisfy its customers but also earn additional revenues for it," he said.

ATM Fee

Levying of fee on ATM transactions appears imminent, thanks to the need to provide security at ATMs. As on November last year, there were 1.37 lakh ATMs in the country. Apart from adding to the customer convenience by facilitating withdrawals round the clock, the speedy expansion of ATMs in the last one decade has business implications for banks as well. Currently, bankers say transaction at a branch costs about Rs 40 as against Rs 20 through an ATM. So, these automated teller machines are a win-win for banks and customers.

Austerity measures directed for state run banks

Finance Ministry has directed some austerity measures to state run banks. The ministry thinks as the banks are reeling under high NPAs they should cut the expenditure. The measures include Not to pay (from bank) for the Drinks served during board meetings, Not to pay for the expenses of family members or any other who accompany the directors during the meeting, Avoid to pay for extended stay of board members, Hold meetings as far as possible at head quarters instead of Hotel and Resort etc. These are good measures to save the public money but the government should also make public the austerity measures directed for their offices/various departments which being non-profit centres are expending huge expenses.

Average age of IOB staff will fall further: CMD

 

 

At Indian Overseas Bank, promotions are happening thick and fast. Officers can become managers in less than two years. Apart from a conscious attempt at fast-tracking talent, the rapid expansion of its branch network is helping youngsters grow fast. M. Narendra, CMD of the bank, said the bank has opened more than 1,200 branches and recruited some 11,000 people in the last three years. The bank recruited around 4,500 people in the current fiscal alone. Of them, around 2,600 are officers. The attrition level is minimal, he added. Narendra said the new recruits become managers within one-and-a-half years because of the opportunities thrown up by expansion. “The average age of employees is 46 now. Earlier it was 52-55. Ideally, my endeavour is to take it to 35 years,” he said, adding that the age profile will come down further in the next three years.

HDFC Bank Q3

HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest private bank, posted a 25% jump in net profit in the October-December quarter on the back of robust loan growth, lower provisioning and tighter cost control. This is the second consecutive quarter that the bank’s year-on-year profit growth has been below 30%. The net profit was Rs 2,326 Cr as compared with Rs 1,859 Cr in the year-ago period. Net interest income grew 16% and other income, 11%. The bank recorded an overall loan growth of 23% as on December 31, 2013, boosted by loans to NRIs (nearly $2 billion) and large and mid-size firms (22% growth).

Wage Settlement update 17.01.2014

The employees who were expecting the UFBU to fight with IBA for at least 15% hike and while Business Papers expecting the UFBU to demand 30% increase in gross pay otherwise to go with its Strike plan on 20th and 21st were surprised when the  UFBU deferred its strike with meagre 9.5% hike in wage bill offered by IBA. The IBA has bettered its offer from 5% to 9.5%. But with its approval for 9.5% hike UFBU has nearly cheated 10 lakh  bank employees who were expecting better bargain.

New Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore

Jeevandas Narayan has taken over as Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore. Beginning his career as a probationary officer in State Bank of India, Narayan held several key assignments in the bank. He also had an overseas assignment in Kuwait and with SBI Capital Markets in India. His latest assignment was Chief General Manager, Patna Circle of SBI, which covers the States of Bihar and Jharkhand.

DCB Bank Q3 Result

Private sector lender DCB Bank reported a net profit of Rs 36 Cr in the October-December quarter of FY14, up 35% as compared with Rs 27 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Net interest income (difference between interest earned and expended) rose 31% to Rs 94 Cr (from Rs 72 Cr in Q3 FY13). Non-interest income was up 14% at Rs 33 Cr. The net non-performing assets (NPAs) increased to 0.77% (from 0.73%), while gross NPAs improved to 2.77% (from3.80%). As on December 31, 2013, the bank’s total advances increased by 23% to Rs 7,361 Cr, while total deposits grew 27% to Rs 9,592 Cr. Retail deposits constitute 77% of total deposits. During the quarter net interest margin increased to 3.55% as against 3.38% in Q3 FY13

Yes Bank Q3 Results

 YES Bank has reported a 21% rise in net profit on the back of stable interest income and loan growth in the third quarter of this fiscal. The private sector bank’s profit after tax was Rs 416 Cr, compared with Rs 342 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year. Net interest income increased 14% to Rs 665 Cr (Rs 584 Cr in Q3 FY13), and non-interest income rose 24% to Rs 388 Cr (Rs 313 Cr).  Net interest margin declined to 2.9% due to higher cost of funds, which was a result of the cumulative effect of RBI’s rate hikes. As on December 31, 2013, total advances grew 15%, while deposits increased 21% on the back of growth in current and savings accounts (CASA). Asset or loan quality deteriorated with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increasing to Rs 196 Cr (0.39% of total advances) from Rs 76 Cr (0.17%). Net NPAs increased to Rs 42 Cr (0.08%) from Rs 16 Cr (0.04%). The bank plans to add 100-150 branches in the next 15 months to its current network of 517 branches as on December end.

 

Corp Micro Plus

 

 

 

Corporation Bank will launch ‘Corp Micro Plus’, a special campaign for micro enterprises from January 17 to March 31. The rate of interest will be at base rate (10.25% currently). There will be no processing charges during the campaign period. S. R. Bansal, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, inaugurated a fully furnished SME (small and medium enterprise) loan centre at Ahmedabad on Monday, which will cater to the financial requirements of the MSME sector in Ahmedabad, Kadi, Rajkot, Gandhidham and Jamnagar. The bank is planning to open SME loan centres at Pune, Ludhiana and Chennai before February 15.

Invest in Tax Saving Deposit with Banks

With the Tax season on the salaried class is looking for avenues to save tax. The banks have Tax Saving Deposits which help them in saving the tax. The Amount invested in such deposit gets Tax Benefit under Section 80CCC of Income Tax subject to overall limit of Rs.1 lakh. You can opt for Interest payment at periodical interval or opt for cumulative interest to be paid at the time of maturity. Such deposit will have fixed maturity of 5 years. You cannot withdraw it prematurely and you cannot avail any loan by pledging the deposit. The interest earned is taxable. 

Wage Settlement update of 13.01.2014

The Central Labour Commissioner had called the parties IBA (Indian Banks Association) and UFBU (United Forum of Bank Unions) for discussing the status of the wage talks of bank employees. The CLC has advised IBA that fortnightly meeting to be held for early settlement of wage demand. IBA has offered to meet on 17th January 2014. The fate of strike call given by UFBU on 21st and 22nd January 2014 depends of the outcome of that meeting.

Interim Dividend windfall from the Banks

The Public Sector Banks are ready to please the shareholders (the government of india is the majority shareholder) by declaring Interim Dividends. Syndicate bank, Oriental Bank have already declared and many will follow soon..................

Syndicate Bank - Give a missed call to know your bank balance

Syndicate Bank has introduced such a facility for its customers. Shri T.K. Srivastava, ED, said that the bank launched the facility of missed-call to its customers a month ago. After giving a missed call to a dedicated number, the customer will get his/her balance amount in the account as an SMS, he said. The customer will not be charged for the facility. To a query on the reason for starting this service, Srivastava said a majority of the calls to the call centres are made to know the balance amount. Sometimes the call is put on hold for a few minutes. This leads to waste of money and time of the customer. Considering this, the bank came up with the idea of introducing the missed-call service, he said adding that the customers will have to follow the procedures related to SMS banking.

IndusInd Bank Q3 Result

The first banking result of Q3 is out with IndusInd Bank reporting a 30% increase in 3^rd quarter net profit at Rs 347 Cr against Rs 267 Cr in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Despite an increase in bad loans, profit rose on account of robust growth in loans and fee income. The private sector bank logged 26% growth in net interest income at Rs 730 Cr. Other income grew 35% to Rs 480 Cr (from Rs 356 Cr) on account of growth in fee income (up 30%) and forex income (58%). 

Corporation Bank signs pact with Geojit for integrated account

 

 

 

Corporation Bank has signed an MoU with Geojit BNP Paribas to offer bank’s customers with the facility to seamlessly open 3-in-1 integrated accounts. This comprises a bank account, a demat account and a trading account with Geojit BNP Paribas. The agreement was inked in keeping with the company’s policy of building reach through partnerships with reputed banks. The MoU was signed by B.N. Shenoy, General Manager, Corporation Bank, and Satish Menon, ED of Geojit BNP Paribas. With this agreement, Corporation Bank’s retail clients will now have access to an uninterrupted, hassle-free online trading platform for equities, derivatives, IPOs and mutual funds. According to Shenoy, the signing of the MoU is an important step to have a seamless integration of wealth management products on offer to its over 1.8 Cr customers. He said the coming together of a 108-year-old bank and a reputed stock broking firm such as Geojit BNP Paribas would enable its customers to enjoy money market as well as capital market experience with delight.

Development Credit Bank is DCB Bank Ltd

 The name of "Development Credit Bank Limited" has been changed to "DCB Bank Limited" in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 w.e.f. October 24, 2013 vide Notification DBOD.PSBD No. 10131/16.01.132/2013-14 dated November 25, 2013 and published in the Gazette of India (Part III Section 4) dated December 28, 2013.

NRIs as joint holders in Resident Bank Accounts

Reserve Bank of India vide its publication dated 9th January 2014 has liberalised facility to add NRI (Non-Resident Indian) close relative to be joint holder on "either or suvivor basis" in respect of all types of Resident Bank accounts (like SB / FD etc) . The guidlines are as follows:

Reserve Bank has received representations that for operational convenience the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), as defined in Regulation 2(vi) of FEMA Notification No.5 dated May 3, 2000, may be permitted to operate such accounts on "Either or Survivor" basis. Accordingly, on a review, it has been decided that AD banks may include an NRI close relative (relatives as defined in Section 6 of the Companies Act, 1956) in existing / new resident bank accounts as joint holder with the resident account holder on "Either or Survivor" basis subject to the following conditions:

a) Such account will be treated as resident bank account for all purposes and all regulations applicable to a resident bank account shall be applicable.

b) Cheques, instruments, remittances, cash, card or any other proceeds belonging to the NRI close relative shall not be eligible for credit to this account.

c) The NRI close relative shall operate such account only for and on behalf of the resident for domestic payment and not for creating any beneficial interest for himself.

d) Where the NRI close relative becomes a joint holder with more than one resident in such account, such NRI close relative should be the close relative of all the resident bank account holders.

 

CERSAI to expand the scope of cover

Banks and lending institutions may soon be required to file with a central registry all information on loans sanctioned for gold jewellery, plant and machinery, corporate brands and logos. A legal working group set up by CERSAI and International Finance Corporation, under the chairmanship of M. R. Umarji, Chief Legal Advisor, Indian Banks’ Association, has recommended that the scope of CERSAI be expanded to cover movable assets, tangibles and intangibles. CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India), a state-owned entity, currently operates a central registry with which information on all equitable mortgages is filed by lending institutions.

Shikar Dhawan to be Brand Ambassador for Canara Bank

Canara Bank has roped in Mr. Shikar Dhawan, Cricketer to be its Brand Ambassador. The tenure of the deal is one or two years and the size of deal is expected to be Rs.1.25 cr.