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)

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)