Axis Bank inks largest ATM outsourcing deal

In what is the largest ATM outsourcing deal in the country,Axis Bank has entered into an agreement with two third-party service providers to increase its ATM count to more than 9000 within the next 18 months. The country's third largest private sector lender has signed contracts with Prizm Payment Services and AGS Infotech to set up and manage 5000 ATMs on a purely variable model according to someone with knowledge of the development. Axis Bank had 4293 ATMs as on 31st March, 2010.Prizm will set up 3500 ATMs while AGS Infotech will set up 1500 ATMs. Since it is a fully outsourced deal, the bank will not incur capital expenditure.The ATMs will be owned and managed by the two service providers.Axis Bank will only be responsible for cash settlement and will pay the service providers a fee per transaction.(BS 16052010)

Bank of Rajasthan to merge with ICICI Bank

Bank of Rajasthan is to be merged with ICICI Bank.The boards of both banks which met separately granted in-principle approval for the merger.In a statement, ICICI Bank said it has entered into an agreement with certain shareholders of the BOR for amalgamation of the bank with itself with a share swap ratio of 25:118.The merger is not likely to have any material impact on ICICI Bank's capital and the only advantage is a readymade branch network. Post merger ,ICICI Bank's branch network would go up to 2463. This is the third merger for the bank after it took over Bank of Madura and Sangli Bank.(BL 19052010)

YES Bank plans retail banking products

YES Bank plans to introduce customised retail banking products in order to cater to specific segments of customers in the country. The bank plans to introduce products such as home loan, personal loan,education loan and credit cards to offer a complete bouquet of services to its customers ,according to Mr Somak Ghosh,Group President ,Corporate Finance and Development Banking, YES Bank.The bank would focus on professionals such as doctors,lawyers and accountants, among others to bring out customised home loan products typically for loans above Rs25 lakhs,he said. The bank plans to set up about750 branches and 3000 offsite ATMs over the next five years in order to scale up its retail business,Mr Ghosh said. (BL 13052010)

6 million credit cards cancelled in 2009-10

Banks cut down sharply on issuing credit cards and also closed a number of cards in 2009-10.Six million credit cards or about a quarter of the total number of cards a year ago went out during the last fiscal.The number of cards in circulation as of March 2010 was 18.3million ,a level last seen about five years ago,data from the Reserve Bank of India show. Rising defaults in the credit card industry as well as unsecured personal loans portfolio by customers as a consequence of the slow down in the economy a year ago forced a number of banks to rethink their growth strategy .Besides ,regulatory warnings and court structures about aggresive recovery practices of many banks also forced them to go slow in the business. Apart from cutting down new issuances ,banks also began to cut credit limits for existing customers as part of a de-risking exercise.(BL 13052010)

Exim Bank to look at new markets

Export-Import Bank of India(Exim Bank)is planning to conduct in- depth research on countries in Africa and Latin America to help Indian businesses explore trade and investment opportunities there.This move comes in the wake of slowdown in the country's exports to the recession-hit Western economies.
The Development Financial Institution (DFI)says its proposed country studies will go a long way in helping Indian companies venture into non-traditional markets for exports and investments.'While information on Western economies is easily available ,the same is hard to come by in the case of Africa and Latin America.The DFI is planning to conduct detailed research on these two countries so that indian companies can use it to make informed decisions on tapping these markets for exports or for making investments',said Mr TCA Ranganathan,Chairman and Managing Director,EXIM Bank,at a press meet (BL 08052010)

Banks will extend insurance to 'all' villages in Karnataka

Commercial banks in Karnataka are planning to extend insurance and other banking services to targeted beneficiaries to all villages with a population of over 2000.The banks have prepared financial inclusion plans(FIPs)to provide banking facilities to all villages by way of a regular brick and mortar branch or using information and communication technology through banking correspondent(BC)model.These services will be provided using appropiate technology back up.In this regard ,all banks have submitted their board approved FIPs as directed by RBI.The banks will meet the target of March 2012 set by the government of india for providing banking facilities to all villages with 2000 and above population,Basant Seth, chairman and managing director,Syndicate Bank and convenor,SLBC,said.(BS 08052010)

SBI picks 2 US firms for point-of-sale terminals deal

State Bank of India has zeroed-in on two US-based companies -Visa international and Elavon Inc as joint venture partners for setting up a network of point-of-sales(POS)terminals across the country.The two foreign partners will help India's biggest lender with payments technology solutions for its ambitious plan to roll out six lakh POS terminals at merchant establishments over the next five years.POS terminals are devices seen in retail and hospitality establishments for processing credit cards ,debit cards,smart cards and other electronically submitted transactions in a traditional retail environment.A retail POS system includes a computer ,monitor,cash drawer,receipt printer,customer display,barcode scanner, integrated card processing system,a signature capture device and a customer pin-pad device. The merchant swipes the customer's card at the terminal or keys-in payment information and the terminal does the rest.In the future ,the bank is also envisaging use of POS for mobile top-ups,utility bill payments,booking of railway and movie tickets.(BL06052010)