Inform clients about derivatives,RBI tells Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised Banks to be transparent while marketing derivative products and to educate the customers about the risks involved, according to Mr. K.R.Ananda, Regional Director, RBI, Chennai. He said the RBI will examine the issue of approaching Internet Service Providers (ISPS) to install filters to check spam emails so that gullible investors do not fall for the trap of scamsters tempting them with announcements about winning prizes/lotteries. On the credit flow to the MSME sector, Mr. Ananda said the RBI conducted review meetings every quarter about it and analysed whether the targets were met. RBI has also made it mandatory for Banks to extend loans to MSMEs upto Rs 10 lakh without any collateral.(BL 15092010)

Mobile Bank to cover every village by 2015: RBI

Reserve Bank of India's( RBI's)Deputy Governor, K.C.Chakrabarty said there was a plan to cover all villages through mobile banks by 2015. Every village would be financially included in the next 5 years, he said. A mobile bank is a facility under which an authorised vehicle, with officials of a particular bank, reaches a particular village at a specified time.It provides limited services like deposit or withdrawal to villagers. RBI had prepared a road map to open a bank branch in villages with appropiate space, he said. It has been decided that all the areas having a population of 2000 should get access to banking facility, he added. About circulation of fake currency, Chakrabarty said it was a security issue and police was being trained to deal with this. Allthe banks had been informed about the security features of Rs 500 notes,he said.(BS 14092010)

Banks tightening norms for education loans

With non-performing assets (NPAs) in the educational loan portfolio rising, banks are putting in place mechanism to check delinquencies and also keep track of students. The Executive Director of Canara Bank, Mr.H.S. Upendra Kamath stressed the need to assess the repayment capacity of the borrower, which comprises two components- of the parent and of the student himself after he gets employed, which depends upon the course he has selected, the employment potential of the course and the track record of the institution as far as placement is concerned.(BL13092010)

Federal Bank ATMs linked to NFS

Federal Bank has announced that its ATM network has been linked to the India Pay National Financial Switch( NFS) managed by National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI). This is India's largest network of shared ATMs, which connects around 61200 ATMs across 44 banks.This would enable Federal Bank's customers access to all these 61200 ATMs across the country and all the cardholders of the 44 member banks can also access 759 Federal Bank ATMs.(BL 11092010)

Axis Bank's remittance service

Axis Bank has launched a remittance service called Instant Money Transfer, in partnership with Empays Payment Systems. IMT will be avilable to Axis Bank customers in Mumbai,Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad to conduct transactions.The pan-India roll-out is expected to take place in the next 4-6 weeks, said a press release. IMT enables customers of the Bank to make instant cash payments to a receiver anywhere in India at low cost.The receiver need not be an account holder of Axis Bank, or for that matter any Bank. Once the receiver gets the notification of the remittance, he or she can go to the nearest Axis Bank ATM and withdraws the money. Remitters can conduct the remittance using mobile, net banking and ATMs.(BL 11092010)

Axis Bank in urban financial inclusion drive

Axis Bank has tied up with Bangalore- based Janalakshmi Social Services(JSS) to launch its urban financial inclusion initiative in India, the pilot of which will be done in Bangalore. It would be a branchless banking facility, and would follow the business correspondent model. JSS would be the business correspondent, while all accounts will be opened, maintained and serviced by Axis Bank. The Bank has enrolled 5,000 customers through this initiative, Ms Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO, Axis Bank, said.(BS 10092010)

RBI panel to study freeing of savings bank rate

The Reserve Bank of India will soon set up a working group to look into the issue of deregulation of savings bank interest rate, said Ms Usha Thorat, Dy. Governor, RBI. Ms Thorat said ,'The deregulation of savings bank interest rate that is currently set at 3.50% by the RBI is an issue which is on our radar. A working group is being set up to debate the issues and draw conclusions." Totally freeing rates could lead to lowering rates in some areas while leading to increase in other areas. It would need to be ensured that there is no discrimination between different customers of the same bank, she said addressing the FICCI-IBI banking seminar in Mumbai on Wednesday. Another important consideration is whether deregulation of savings rate would draw more people into the fold of the formal banking system. The RBI has been taking measures to safeguard the interest of saving bank customers. From April 1, banks have been calculating the interest on balance in the savings bank account on a daily basis, against the earlier practice of calculating it on the minimum balance between the 10th and the last day of each month.(BL 09092010)