Allahabad Bank expects 25-26% credit growth

On the back of robust demand for credit, Allahabad Bank expects to post 27% growth in advances during the second quarter(july-september) of fiscal 2010-11.The Bank is hopeful of achieving a credit growth of about 25-26% for the financial year 2010-11, according to its Executive Director, Mr. M.R.Nayak. Mr. Nayak further said that the Bank might raise about Rs 1000 crore during the current fiscal. Although the Bank is quite comfortable with the capital position and might not need to raise funds immediately, however, if credit offtake picks up, then it may consider raising about Rs 1000 crore, he said.(BL 16092010)

Banks urged to launch awareness drive on financial inclusion

Banks should undertake joint publicity campaign in order to create awareness among people about financial inclusion and various products being offered, according to Mr. Rakesh Singh, Additional Secretary(Financial Services), Ministry of Finance.Mr. Singh was addressing a special review meeting to analyse the progress of implementation of financial inclusion plan and the initiatives taken by three Kolkata- based banks on financial inclusion.The banks were United Bank of India,Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank. The meeting took note of the progress in enrolling business correspondents to roll out financial inclusion plan, status of banking service in the villages having population above 2000 and position of training of rural branch managers and BCs among others.(BL 19092010)

ATM transactions cross 10-crore a month mark

ATMs in India appear to be humming with activity, what with the cumulative monthly transaction volumes recorded by the National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI), National Financial Switch (NFS), to which 61,702 ATMs are linked, crossing the 10-crore mark for the first time in August 2010. The Switch recorded 7.32 crore ATM transactions in July 2010. Between Jan,2010 when 53,906 ATMs of 37 Banks were connected to the NFS, and August 2010, when 61,702 ATMs of 44 Banks were linked to the Switch, monthly transaction volumes on the NFS shot up by 79% to 10.18 crore (5.68 crore in Jan,2010). The spurt in transaction volumes is on 2 counts. For one, bilateral transaction volumes between banks have migrated to the multilateral NFS platform. Two, due to the festival season, said Mr.K.S.Nerurkar, Head-NFS and Business Development,NPCI. NPCI promoted by State Bank of India,Punjab National Bank,Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citi Bank and HSBC, was established in December, 2008. It is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country owned and operated by banks.(BL 15092010)