Banks told to drop special deposit schemes

Depositors who are wary of withdrawing their money from fixed deposits for fear of losing the interest may soon have some relief. The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks that are offering special term deposit schemes under which no interest is paid in case of premature withdrawal during the lock-in period, to discontinue such schemes with immediate effect. The interest rates offered on these deposits are not in tune with the rates of interest on normal deposits, said the RBI.

PNB to allow overdraft facility

Taking 'no frill' account drive to another level, Punjab National Bank has allowed overdraft facility of up to Rs 500 to its account holders in the state of Punjab. In a state where half of the agricultural debt still flows from non-institutional sources, the measure is meant to make financial inclusion process more inclusive and faster

Banks switch to any time mobile transaction

After automated teller machine (ATM) and internet, banking transactions are set to migrate to mobile phone. From providing balance information and account alerts, banks with the help of IT companies have developed applications that now allow customers to make changes in their investment portfolios, purchase mutual funds and facilitate peer-to-peer payments. With over 250 million mobile subscribers in the country, the IT developers are hoping such applications become the preferred mode of transacting in the coming years. While mobile technology is evolved enough to allow cash remittances across users, RBI does not allow non-banks to provide money transfer services. This provides a great opportunity for banks to partner mobile companies and provide such services. All the transactions happen over SMS, but they use a security feature called Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a technology unique to GSM. USSD doesn’t allow the sent messages to be saved onto the phones, and hence will guard the customer’s details in case of loss or theft of the phone, according to mChek CEO Sanjay Swamy. Paymate, another mobile solutions provider, has tied up with two banks for peer-to-peer money transfer as well as peer-to-merchant money transfer, and will be announcing these tieups within the next two weeks.

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.

SBH to make a/c opening simpler

Opening an account with State Bank of Hyderabad branches in the twin cities will be made easier soon. A customer can complete opening of an account within 10 minutes along with an ATM card and cheque book. The bank is in the process of setting up a Liability Centralised Processing Centre (LCPC) to facilitate ‘fast-paced account opening’ for customers in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Mr R.P. Sinha, Chief General Manger, SBH, said. A customer will be given a temporary ATM card, a booklet of 10 cheques and Pass Book within ten minutes, once LCPC becomes operational,” Mr Sinha said. Within 10 days, a personalised ATM card and cheque book would be sent to the customer. The centre would be opened before December 31. The initiative is a part of the bank’s efforts to mobilise current accounts and savings accounts, he added.

Reliance Money ties up with Corp Bank

Reliance Money, the financial services and distribution arm of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, announced its tie up with Corporation Bank to offer broking services to the customers and clients of Corporation Bank. Under this agreement, the depository system of Corporation Bank would be linked with Reliance Money’s trading platform and consumers having DP accounts with the Corporation Bank would be able to trade on the Reliance Money Platform. “We expect to add over two lakh demat accounts with this tie up, with our effort focused to get the not-so-savvy semi-urban and rural investor to participate in the stock market,” said Mr Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director and CEO, Reliance Money. The customers will be offered a free trading account for a year for trading up to Rs 5 lakh.

SBI to offer reverse mortgage loan

State Bank of India is launching a reverse mortgage loan for senior citizens, starting from October 12. Called the “SBI Reverse Mortgage Loan”, it will be available for customers above 60 years. The loan would be given jointly if the spouse is alive, provided he or she is above 58 years. The loan is available at all SBI branches. It carries a fixed interest rate of 10.75 per cent per annum, which is subject to reset at the end of every five years along with revaluation of security and re-adjustment of loan instalments, if necessary. The maximum tenure of such a loan is 15 years, said Mr Sangeet Shukla, Chief General Manager, Personal Banking, SBI. Other players in this segment include DHFL and Punjab National Bank.

Festival offer: SBI drops rates on home, other retail loans

State Bank of India, the largest lender in the country, has reduced the interest rates on all retail loans including home loans by 50-100 basis points. The maximum reduction (one percentage point) in rate applies to loans for a duration of 5 to 15 years. The new rates would be applicable for all loans taken between October 8 and December 31, 2007. For loans up to Rs 20 lakh, the revised rate on floating rates above 15 years and up to 20 years is 10.5 per cent (11.25 per cent). Loans above Rs 20 lakh will carry additional 0.25 percentage point interest. Other banks and financial institutions that have cut home loans recently include HDFC Ltd, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Ltd, Union Bank, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Allahabad Bank and Dena Bank. Housing loans constitute 52.22 per cent of SBI’s retail advances as on June 2007. SBI has also reduced rates on personal loans by 50 basis points to 100 basis points. The bank is also offering a 50 per cent concession in processing charges on all personal segment loans. For small road transport operators in SME sector, the bank has reduced interest rates ranging from 100 to 200 basis points on the existing rates and the revised rates will now be in the range of 10 to 12.25 per cent for various loan maturities. The festival offer is also extended to farm mechanisation loans

ICICI Bank gets RBI nod for 425 branches

http://thebankpage.blogspot.com/icici-rbinodIndia’s second largest bank ICICI Bank has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India’s to open 425 new branches and over 2,500 ATMs. The bank currently has a network of 950 branches and extension counters and about 3,600 ATMs. This is the first time that the central bank has allotted such a large number of branches to any private sector bank in India. This is over and above the 100 branches that ICICI Bank received after the embargo on several banks that followed the IPO scam. The majority of the new branches will be in semi-urban and rural regions.

City Union Bank allots 68 lakh shares on pref basis

Having got the Reserve Bank’s approval and the shareholders’ nod for raising capital through issue of 68 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium on preferential basis, the Kumbakonam-headquartered City Union Bank today went ahead with the allotment. The bank has allotted 3 lakh shares to L&T and 15 lakh shares to LIC at Rs 169.15/share, while fixing the rate at Rs 190 each for the 15 lakh shares allotted to FMO, Netherlands, 12.5 lakh shares each to Ares Investments LLC and Argonaut Ventures and 10 lakh shares to Yatish Trading Company. The allotment in exchange for cash has aggregated to Rs 125.45 crore. It would enhance its capital from Rs 25.2 crore to Rs 32 crore. The total holding by FIIs/NRIs, post this preferential issue, would be a little over 19 per cent against the 24-per cent norm.

Get mini-statements, change PIN at ATMs

The ATM cardholders of the six banks forming part of the MITR (ATM sharing arrangement) network can now benefit from new value-added services introduced today. Such customers, numbering about 80 lakh, can now obtain ‘mini statements’ of their accounts in any of the ATMs of the members banks of ‘MITR’. The MITR network came into existence on October 8, 2003. The customers with debit card/ATM cards would also be able to change their ‘Personal Identification Number’ (PIN) in any of the ATMs under the network. Currently, the MITR network has 3154 networked ATMs. The six banks forming part of the MITR network are Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Indian Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, IndusInd Bank and UCO Bank. The PNB’s Executive Director, Mr J.M. Garg, said that the bank was adding 50,000 ATM cards every week. “We want to increase it to 1 lakh cards every week”, he said.

UCO Bank plans follow-on public issue

UCO Bank plans to come up with a follow-on public offering (FPO) of shares during the last quarter of the current fiscal or first quarter of 2008-09, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr S.K.Goel, has said. “We hope to raise Rs 200-Rs 250 crore in the FPO. The capital raising is, however, contingent on the Finance Ministry approving a capital restructuring proposal submitted by us and pending before the Government,” Mr Goel said. He said that UCO Bank has sought Government approval to convert Rs 300 crore of equity capital into preference share capital. UCO Bank’s paid-up capital as on end-June 2007 stood at Rs 799.36 crore. If the FPO goes through, the Government’s stake in the bank would come down from 74.98 per cent to 55-56 per cent, he added

Festive offer: Axis, Dena Bank drop home loan rates

Axis Bank and Dena Bank have reduced interest rates on home loans in the run-up to the festival season. Dena Bank is offering a 50 basis-point reduction in interest rates for all tenors and slabs as part of its ‘Festival Bonanza’. The reduced rates would be applicable on fresh housing loans in both the fixed and floating interest categories sanctioned from October 10 till December 31, said. The new interest rates range from 9.25 per cent to 10.5 per cent in the floating rate category and 9.75 per cent to 11 per cent in the fixed rate category depending on loan amount and tenor. Axis Bank has reduced its floating rates by 50 basis points. The new floating rate will now stand at 10.5 per cent.

Class Room

ATM frauds/crimes This article aims at alerting those who use their ATM/Debit cards. In this world fraud can take place in any form. We should be ever vigilant to protect ourselves from that frauds. The technology has paved the way to many frauds. Today’s fraudsters are white collard people sitting somewhere and steeling from your pocket your hard earned money. E-mail and Internet related fraud schemes are being perpetrated with increasing frequency, creativity and intensity. A few methods adopted by fraudsters are; Skimming: Here the fraudsters make counterfeit ATM cards by using a skimmer, which is s card swipe device that reads the information on a consumer’s ATM card. Scammers insert onto an ATM, ready to swipe information from unsuspecting customers. They take a blank card and encode all the information from an ATM card when they swipe The skimmer catches the PIN through a small camera mounted on the ATM. Lebanese Loop: Here fraudsters insert a portable steel loop into an ATM card slot. The fraudster usually approaches the victim while at the machine, and poses as the person next in the line. Victims are advised to enter their PIN three times and then hit cancel to get the machine to accept the cards. The fraudster is able to memorize the PIN for future use and the machine keeps the card because of the excessive number of attempts to enter the correct PIN. The victim cannot get back the card as it is held in the loop. When the victim leaves the fraudster removes the loop and he has both card and pin. Spoofing: Here the attacker creates a misleading context to trick victim into making an inappropriate security relevant decision. For example, fraudster have set up bogus automated teller machines, typically in public areas or shopping malls. The machines would accept ATM cards and ask for PIN codes. Once victim gives the information. Fraudster has enough information to steel the money. Pretexting: Here the fraudster has some information about you and wants to have more information so that he can steel your money. He claims to be from victims bank and makes calls to victim to provide the needed information. Many a times victim provides the needed information and fraudster can make merry on that. Phishing: Here the fraudster sends emails at random, purporting to come from a genuine company operating on the internet and this mail requests the victim to provide his personal information like password etc to update the database. The link provided in the mail takes the victim to look alike website of the bank. When the victim provides the required information, fraudster can steel the money at his will. Protect yourself: While using ATM see that no extra fitting is attached to Machine if any inform the security or the contact number of the bank provided on the ATM. Never take the help of third person to operate your card. Never disclose your PIN to anybody. Never keep your PIN and card at same place. Be cautious when third person comes to help you generously. Never disclose your personal information over phone to bank unless you know Cent percent that this is genuine call. Banks usually never call/mail you to take your personal information, when you receive Such call/mail take his number and confirm/inform the bank.

No RBI subsidy to banks for ‘no frills’ accounts

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ruled out support or subvention to banks for the opening of ‘no frills’ accounts as part of the nationwide financial inclusion project. Speaking after inaugurating the biometrically- enabled smart cards of Canara Bank, the RBI Deputy Governor, Ms Usha Thorat, said, “Banks stand to benefit through financial inclusion and they are prepared to incur the costs for the purpose.” Financial inclusion, she said, allowed the State governments to dispense social security, subsidies and pensions directly to the beneficiaries through their bank accounts. She also said that for the last financial year, about 60 million ‘no frills’ accounts had been opened by the public sector banks. These cards allowed customers to use Automatic Teller Machines, especially in the rural regions where literacy rates were low. Customer identification is done on the basis of finger prints. These cards are estimated to cost anywhere between Rs 80-100 each. Mr M.B.N. Rao, Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director, said that Canara Bank intended to complete banking inclusion in 1639 villages by the end of the current financial year and open at least 10 lakh ‘no frills’ accounts. The bank, he said, had opened about 6.5 lakh such accounts after completing the inclusion project in 23 districts where it was the lead bank

Fitch ties up with Dena Bank

Credit rating agency Fitch has tied up with Dena Bank to evaluate the credit quality of its existing and potential clients to help the bank prepare for Basel-II norms. Fitch has also signed MoU for bank loan ratings with Indian Bank, State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank and UCO Bank and was in the process of signing MoUs with other banks.

IBA resists CBI plan to probe private banks

India’s premier investigative agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is seen attempting to extend its turf to cover private banks and corporates which remain largely outside its investigative domain. The agency has sounded out the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), which represents the interests of a multitude of banks, on whether private banks and corporates could be brought under the ambit of the investigative agency. CBI is now of the view that since private banks deal with public money, the onus is on the agency to check corrupt practices taking place in such institutions. IBA was of the view that CBI was not in tune with the nuances of banking. “Very often, a banker may take a commercial decision to grant a loan and the account holder may default due to various reasons such as a slowdown in the economy or the export-import policy and other reasons. This may not mean that the banker is in the wrong,” said a banker. There are other reasons for banks to resist the move. According to bankers, a probe undertaken by CBI drags on for long before the agency arrives at a logical conclusion. “Currently, as per the Banking Regulation Act and Prevention of Corruption Act, private entities are not covered under CBI. These two Acts will have to be amended to include private banks and corporates under CBI,” said former RBI executive director and now IBA chief legal advisor MR Umerji.

SBM logs into e-trading

Bangalore-based State Bank of Mysore on Wednesday launched e-trading services under which its customers will be able to access bank account, demat account and Internet trading account sitting at home. Initially, the facility is being offered through the designated branches of SBM at Bangalore, Mysore, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chennai. The brokerage charges vary between 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent depending on the monthly turnover. The bank has tied up with SBI Cap Securities Ltd (SSL) for offering e-trading facility

Fed cut may prod RBI to soften rate regime

Bankers expect the Reserve Bank of India to soften its view on interest rates in the light of the US Federal rate cut. Domestic loans and overseas borrowing may become cheaper. “There may not be direct correlation between the US Federal Reserve action and the RBI’s moves. But the country is more tuned to global trends especially capital flows which has implications on exchange rate and relative difference in interest rates,” said a chairman of medium size public sector bank. S K Goel, chairman and managing director of UCO Bank, said the domestic interest rates could soften by about 50 basis points in the coming days. This also means reducing deposit rates to control cost.