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Showing posts from August, 2015

The Final Verdict – 2nd and 4th Saturdays Holidays for Indian Banks

          As a beginning towards ‘LessCash’ transactions in India, 2nd and 4th Saturdays have been declared as holidays in India.           On the remaining Saturdays, Banks will work for full day i.e like any other week days.           These additional working hours are to compensate for closure on 2nd and 4th Saturdays. It may be noted that All scheduled and non-scheduled banks – public, private, foreign, cooperative, regional rural and local area banks – will observe public holiday on second and fourth Saturdays from September 01, 2015; and will observe full working days on Saturdays other than second and fourth Saturdays (referred to as working Saturdays in the Press Release). Scheduled banks in India have some special facilities. A scheduled bank is eligible for loans from the Reserve Bank of India at bank rate. They are also given membership to clearing houses. A scheduled bank, in India, refers to a bank which is listed in the 2nd Schedule of the Reserve Ba

Now withdraw INR2000 from Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals

          POS terminals come in a wide variety of sizes for numerous uses. The most common usage of POS terminals is to swipe the Credit Cards/Debit Cards for CashLess transactions.           In India, since 2009 POS terminals are enabled for LessCash transactions too. The first notification by Reserve Bank of India was issued in 2009 permitting cash withdrawals from POS Terminals. Subsequently, in September 2013 this facility was extended to pre-paid cards issued by the banks. This step was introduced by Reserve Bank of India to: 1)      Reduce the pressure on ATMs 2)     Reduce the cash deposits by the merchants in bank accounts 3)     Obviate   the need to install ATMs in nook and corner of the country 4)     Familiarise Bank customers with electronic banking The normal POS terminals did not support Cash Withdrawals hence the volumes of cash withdrawals through POS terminals were slow to take off. Over the years with sustained campaigns by the banking ind

Monetary Penalty on Latur Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Latur

 Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of INR 5.00 lakh (Rupees Five Lakh only) on Latur Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Latur. The monetary penalty is for violation of the Know Your Customer norms and RBI instructions. At present the bank has 14 branches with Core Banking Solution. These 14 branches are spread over Latur (8 branches, including the Head Office and the Remote Branches), Pune (3) and 1 Branch in Nanded, Aurangabad and Solapur each, respectively. The bank was established on 2nd May 1995 and the inauguration function was presided over by Dr. Manmohan Singh (The Ex Prime Minister and also The Ex Finance Minister of India) and Mr. Shivraj  Patil Chakurkar (The Ex Speaker of Indian Parliament). The Bank’s IT team has focussed on SMS based services viz; 1.      Know your Balance - SMS BAL to 9420010055 for your account balance 2.      Last Three Transactions - SMS LST to 9420010055 for your last three transactions 3.      Block Your ATM -

State Bank of Hyderabad joins NPCIs NACH Debit Platform

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          State Bank of Hyderabad  with its Head Office in Hyderabad(One of my favourite’s cities) has joined the NPCIs NACH Debit Platform           The origin of State Bank of Hyderabad can be traced back to 1941 when it was constituted as Hyderabad State Bank on 8.8.1941 under Hyderabad State Bank Act, 1941. The Bank started with the unique distinction of being the central bank of the erstwhile State of Hyderabad, covering present-day Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad-Karnataka of Karnataka and Marathwada of Maharashtra, to manage its currency – Osmania Sikka and public debt apart from the functions of commercial banking. The first branch of the Bank was opened at Gunfoundry, Hyderabad on 5th April, 1942. The present day Headquarters of the Bank is housed in a magnificent building at  Gunfoundry, Hyderabad.            The Bank has 1800 physical touch points spread across India. It is also the largest Associate Bank of State Bank of India.     

The growth and growth of India’s NPCI’s IMPS (Immediate Payment Service)

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          5 years back the first baby steps were taken by NPCI’S IMPS to introduce a new Instant payment channel to Indians.           The new instant payment channel was christened as IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) The highlights over the last 5 years are as under: Sr No Highlight Month 01 SBI, ICICI Bank, Bank of India and UNPCI’s IMPS on Bank of India were the first set of participants in the pilot run June 10 02 IMPS opened to the public by Smt.Shyamala Gopinath, Deputy Governor, RBI         with customers of with seven banks - Axis Bank, Bank of India, HDFC Bank,ICICI Bank,State Bank of India, UNPCI’s IMPS on Bank of India and Yes Bank able to experience the joy of the new Payment Channel Nov 10 03 Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank joins IMPS. This is the first cooperative bank to join IMPS April 11 04 IMPS-Merchant

Cheers_Enjoy Value Added Service at Cooperative Bank’s ATMs

          The key to reduce ATMs operating costs is to attract a large number of footfalls to transact through the ATMs.           Revenue can be maximised through Financial transactions and Non-Financial transactions. Non-financial transactions can said to be the butter whereas Financial transactions can said to be bread.           A perfect combination of Bread and Butter transactions would minimise ATM operating costs.  At the same time, it would encourage the Banks to install a large number of ATMs around the country.           Reserve Bank of India, through Notification No: RBI/2015-16/139-DCBR.CO.LS (PCB) Cir.No.2/07.01.000/2015-16 dt.July 30, 2015 permitted all Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) to offer all services that Standard ATMs can offer.           These services can offered @ on-site / off-site / mobile ATMs as per Annex. At the same time, the UCBs have to ensure that there are enough technological safeguards in place for ensuring data se