innovationinbanking

Would you be interested to invest in Indian Infrastructure Bonds through your Credit Card?

2011-12-10T10:22:00.001-08:00

I was thinking aloud, how to kill multiple birds with a single stone.

What are the multiple birds?

01) Increase the average spending on Credit Cards.

02) Increase the reward points

03) Introduce a new payment method for the Infrastructure Bonds.

04) Increase the catchment area for Infrastructure Bonds.

05) Increase the average spending on Debit Cards.

06) Increase the catchment area for Internet Banking.

And, What is the single stone?

A) ePayments.

Ok, so you do not believe it? Well read on.

At present the only option to apply to Infrastructure Bonds, is via the old fashioned way i.e Paper Instruments via Cheque Draft. Few Brokerage houses allow the Investor to apply through their website, with an integrated Payment Gateway. However, payment via Credit Card/Debit Card is still in their basket of options.

This is where my idea comes into play.

A basic road-map is as under :

01) The Broker integrates the Payment Gateway to accept Credit/Debit Cards too.

02) The investor has the option of choosing to pay via Credit / Debit Card at the time of ‘make payment’, option.

Nothing more, Nothing less.

Benefits:

A) The credit card issuing company sees an increase in their turnover.

B) The investor gets a 45 days cushion to pay the credit bills. Of course, this is dependant on the credit card billing cycle.

C) The credit card holder gains reward points on his/her credit card.

D) The overall subscription to the Infrastructure Bonds zooms up.

Hm, money back offer on Infrastructure Bonds will be a non-viable proposition for the Credit Card companies.

So, who will be the first to offer this facility in India?

Epass-SBI EZ-PAY CARD. The Scholarship disbursement mode.

2011-12-09T17:52:00.001-08:00

An untapped area of ePayments is the Government’s scholarship arena. All State Governments extend various types of student scholarships.

The mode of disbursement is via paper based cheques.

Few Governments have started exploring the ePayments mode for disbursements of scholarships.

Andhra Pradesh has moved the complete Scholarship cycle into electronic mode i.e Application till disbursement of scholarship.

The website has an interesting name too epass @ http://epasswebsite.cgg.gov.in/

The website has been developed by Centre for Good Governance.

As a safe ePayments practitioner, what is fascinating is the integration of ePayments mode for the scholarship disbursement mode.

AP government has tied up with State Bank of India for the same.

The solution being utilised is the SBI Prepaid Card - EZpay

More on this can be read @ https://prepaid.onlinesbi.com/ezpay.html

Students have the option of receiving the scholarship amount to their Banks accounts via the NEFT mode or opting for the SBI Prepaid Card-EZPay.

The benefits of SBI Prepaid Card-EZPay are :

01) Students need not have a bank account.

02) The amount can be withdrawn at SBI Group ATM’s.

03) The card can be used at any Visa enabled POS terminal. This is the best feature as the complete cycle is in eMode only.

04) Balance details can be viewed at SBI Group ATM’s or online.

05) The need for a maintaining any balance in the student’s bank account is eliminated.

The integration of EZCard for internet shopping would be the next step, to popularise this Prepaid.

National Common Mobility Card - India - finally live.

2011-12-08T09:09:00.001-08:00

A new entrant in the ePayments arena, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) was formally launched by union minister for urban development, Kamal Nath on 06/12/2011, during Urban Mobility India 2011 conference.

The NCMC has been branded as ''More'' signifying the national bird ''Peacock''.

Further in English, “more”, means that the user get more and more by using this card.

What is the basic idea of NCMC ?

In simple terms, it is another mode of ePayments i.e electronic wallet.

NCMC has been promoted by Urban Development Ministry headed by Shri Kamal Nath.

The idea of NCMC is to enable the user with a single transport system that provides seamless, efficient and hassle free travel experience across the length and breadth of the country.

The ministry of urban development also plans of implementing a single ticketing system for all modes of public transport in India but also for parking and toll.

The implementation of 'More' will be partly funded by central government under the JNNURM scheme, covering the buses sanctioned under the scheme.

To popularise NCMC, Ministry of Urban Development, has stipulated the introduction of NCMC as a major conditions, for financing Urban Transport programs. This is akin to a carrot and stick policy.

This is a common marketing technique!!

UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services (UTIITSL), a government of India and ministry of finance company, has been appointed as the technology aggregator to implement NCMC project.

The first client under NCMC is Jaipur City Transport Services limited i.e JCTSL, Jaipur and is expected to roll out by the end of this financial year.

Talks with Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore and Bhopal Municipal Corporation are also at advanced stage.

The Centre will spearhead a national programme of inter-operable automated fare collection system (AFCS) for the purpose.

The future of NCMC-More is on various modes of transportation like metro, bus, train, taxi and ferry. NCMC can also be used to pay toll across the country.

The spin-off of NCMC would be felt in Public Transport Organisations, by significantly increasing overall efficiency, providing control and better management of tariff structure, reducing cash handling and hence lesser pilferage and fraud.

The possibilities are endless. The technology is in place and now co-ordination between various departmental personnel is required. And, hence, the complete benefits of NCMC can be enjoyed in another 5 years.

eCheque - The time has come in India

2011-12-07T09:16:00.001-08:00

In simple terms, an eCheque is an electronic funds transfer that withdraws money directly from your bank account. It's just like writing a cheque, only it is done electronically

Worldwide it is familar to Paypal consumers.

As per Paypal website,

QUOTE

eCheques are payments from buyers who have attached their bank details to their PayPal account, but do not have a valid backup funding source such as a credit or debit card. It may also be that their backup card has expired. So to ensure that a secure payment can still made, an eCheque is generated.

Sending an eCheque is a bit like sending someone a paper cheque, only it is done electronically. And because it is processed by PayPal, the payment is also protected and the sender and recipient do not need to share their financial details.
UNQUOTE

In Indian context, ICICI Bank, way back in 2002 had introduced this concept. This was built around RBI EFT system. However, as EFT has since been discontinued, ICICI’s Bank eCheque too has been discontinued.

RBI’s EFT was popular, prior to NEFT/RTGS taking off. Once, NEFT/RTGS started becoming popular, the EFT slowly died a natural death.

In Dec 2011, in a speech by deliverd by Shri G Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, at the Foundation Day of Catholic Syrian Bank, Thrissur on 26/11/2011, titled ‘Payment System Issues and Challenges’, the work e-cheque was again mentioned.

The major drawback of the current ePayment modes in India i.e RTGS/NEFT/POS Terminals Card, do not have the facility of Post-dated concept. All RTGS/NEFT/POS Terminals’ transactions are instant i.e the remitter’s account is debited instantly.

The remitter cannot issue Post-dated ePayment instructions. Of course, it is an interesting discussion on the need for Post-dated physical cheques.

Electronic Clearing Services(Debit) services to some extent offer Post-dated facility for ePayments. However, these have a very limited scope and do not offer the flexibility of true eCheques

At the highest policy levels, the eCheque as a concept seems to have germinated. Hence, this will become a reality in India, sooner or later.

Axis Bank’s (India) Instant Money Transfer

2011-12-01T16:29:00.001-08:00

In the arena of innovative ePayment Products, Axis Bank had launched an Instant Money Transfer product in September 2010. It is more than 1 year of its launch, and the transctions via IMT seem to be on the increase.

These new cutting-edge ePayment options, aid in increasing the reach of the Banking network to the unbanked and are a part of the Financial Inclusion drive.

RBI is clear that all path-breaking payment products have to designed around the Banking channel only. At least one leg of the transaction has to be via the Bank Channel.

Keeping this in view, IMT is designed to benefit the Unbanked, but via the Banking channel.

In short, in IMT, the Sender has to have a bank account, whereas the Receiver need not have a bank account.

More details of the Axis Bank’s IMT service can be accessed @ Axis Bank-IMT-FAQ's

The IMT funds receiver, if he/she does not have an account with Axis Bank, has to do an one time registration of his/her mobile number with Axis Bank.

Once the registration is done, the IMT funds can be withdrawn via ATM on the cardless mode.

Yes, Cash from ATM can be withdrawn without the ATM card.

So, IMT is a double innovation i.e 01) Cash to the Unbanked 02) Withdraw Cash from ATM without an ATM Card.

Charges: Like allgood things in life, IMT is not free. There is a per transaction fee of Rs25/-(all inclusive)

There are financial limits for IMT transactions. As IMT is an emergency channel and keeping in view the AML norms, the limits have been set.

The following limits exist for IMT transactions:

Sender limits

Rs. 5,000 per transaction

Rs. 25,000 per month

Receiver limits (checked on his or her mobile number)

Rs. 5,000 per transaction

Rs. 1,00,000 in a calendar year

So, go and try Axis Bank’s (India) Instant Money Transfer

UCO Bank - India - Pre-funded Cheques

2011-12-01T09:19:00.001-08:00

UCO Bank - India - Pre-funded Cheques

It was a pleasant surprise, to know more about a new innovative bank product.

This product was launched by UCO Bank way back in 2008.

The Pre-funded cheques seems to be unique to UCO Bank, and so far, not copied by other Indian Banks.

The salient features of the Product are :

1.Background

The Pre-funded cheques have an upper limit inscribed on them. The same can be used as Gift Cheques, Travlellers Cheques or Normal Cheques.

2. Eligibility:

This is available customers maintaining individual

SB/CA account with the Bank, i.e no Joint accounts, or other business accounts holders cannot avail this facility.

3. Service Charges

Service charges shall be levied upfront @ Rs.100/ per cheque book of 10 leaves of Rs.10000/- denomination and @Rs.50/- per cheque book of 10 leaves for Rs.5000/- and Rs.1000/- denominations. Actual Courier Charges shall also be recovered additionally.

4. Cheque Feature

The cheques are customised i.e printed as order cheques and attractively designed.

The cheques will be pre-funded i.e the account will already have funds in it.

The cheque books will be issued for a prepaid value of not exceeding Rs.10,000/- Rs.50,000/- / Rs.100000/- (i.e. cheque book containing 10 leaves - each leaf not exceeding Rs.1000/- ,Rs.5,000/- and Rs.10000/- )

Each cheque leaf shall bear a legend "Not over Rs.1000/- or Rs.5000/ or Rs.10,000/- "as the case may be.

A cheque book shall contain 10 leaves.

UCO Bank was founded in 1943, and has branches spread all over India.

Amongst the founding fathers of UCO Bank was Ghanshyam Das Birla, the founder of Birle Group in India. During the Quit India movement of 1942, he had conceived the idea of organizing a commercial bank with Indian capital and management, and the United Commercial Bank Limited was incorporated to give shape to that idea.

The bank, along with 13 major commercial banks of India, was nationalized on 19 July 1969 by the Government of India.

Its name was changed to UCO Bank, in 1985, by an act of Indian Parliament.

Oriental Insurance Company - joins the ePayments route.

2011-11-27T05:31:00.001-08:00

Oriental insurance company, is tying up with various Banks to embrace the ePayments mode completely.

This will add 6lacs+ transactions to the ePayments pool in our country, plus the additional ripples amongst it’s 15,000+employees and 50,000+associates.

OIC with its 1000+ branches spread all over India, should be looking forward to tie-up with multiple banks to completely migrate to ePayments.

First of the publicity block, is ING Vysya Bank, via a Press Release.

The Press Release can be viewed @

http://www.ingvysyabank.com/pdf's/Oriental%20release%20draft.pdf

This is ING Vysya Bank’s second tie-up in the last couple of weeks in the ePayments arena. A couple of weeks back, it announced a tie-up with Life Insurance Corporation of India.

This continuous publicity should attract new customers towards ING Vysya Bank’s ePayments solutions.

The genesis of ePayments in Indian insurance industry, can be traced to a July 2009, IRDA circular.

PNBRewardz - PNB Debit Cards Loyalty Program. Hm-not sure who the gainer is!!

2011-11-26T10:18:00.001-08:00

To encourage it’s debit card holders to swipe their debit cards more at POS Terminals, PNB is running a Debit Cards Loyalty Program i.e PNBRewardz.

The routine operations for this Loyalty Program lie with Loylty Rewardz. Hence, ‘Rewards’, is spelt as ‘Rewardz’!

The PNB Debit Card holder has to register him/her self for points accrual and redemption.

The registration process involves visit to the Bank’s ATM and than Internet access.

Every member of PNB Rewardz is eligible to accrue Points.

PNB Rewardz members can earn & accumulate Points for all their Spends at Point of Sales (POS) and online purchases using Punjab National Bank Debit Card.

With every Rs. 100 spent, you earn 1 point (Each point is valued at Rs. 0.25)

The minimum redemption value is 500points.

To earn 500 points, the customer has to swipe for Rs50,000/-

I am not sure, whether this makes sense or not.

As no relevant statistics are published, the success of this program cannot be ascertained.

However, as the program is still run all over India, it must have achieved the Break-even point.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) is one of the 500 largest banks in the world, and enjoys a rich history and heritage.

PNB was the first Indian bank to be started solely with Indian capital. Established in 1895 at Lahore, and nationalized in 1969, in the first lot of 13 Banks.

PNB is 100% CBS and operates through 5,000+ branches, 444+ extension counters and 1855+ ATMs.

444 extension counters-Some Indian Banks do not have that many branches as PNB has extension counters!

Over it’s 100 years existence, PNB has added numerous feathers to it’s cap.

The bank was established in 1895 at Lahore. PNB's founders included several leaders of the Swadeshi movement like Dyal Singh Majithia, Lala HarKishen Lal, Lala Lalchand, Kali Prosanna Roy, EC Jessawala, Prabhu Dayal, Bakshi Jaishi Ram, and Lala Dholan Dass.

Lala Lajpat Rai was actively associated with the banks’s management in its early years. Lala Lajpat Rai’s brother was the first manager of Punjab National Bank.

Apart from 4500+ Branches in India, PNB has Overseas Offices at United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Kabul. It has representative offices in Almaty, Shanghai, and Dubai.

The Bank is the first amongst the public sector banks to come out with Voluntary Retirement Scheme.

Way back in 2002, PNB embarked on a CBS for it’s wide network. It tied up with Cisco Systems for networking 3,870 branches and also was in talks Infosys for the implementation of a Centralised Banking Solution for it, via a Joint Subsidiary.

In 2004, PNB mandated TCS to deploy HR Solutions. To make this a reality, TCS joined hands with PeopleSoft to handle project mandated by PNB for a Human Capital Management and Payroll Solution.

Over the decades, few banks were merged into PNB, mostly as a rescuer for the other Banks.

In 1951, PNB acquired the 39 branches of Bharat Bank (est. 1942);

In 1960s, PNB amalgamated Indo Commercial Bank (est. 1933) in a rescue.

In 1986, PNB acquired Hindustan Commercial Bank (est. 1943) in a rescue. The acquisition added Hindustan's 142 branches to PNB's network.

IN 1993, PNB acquired New Bank of India, which the GOI had nationalized in 1980

The major development in Punjab National Bank in the last 6 months, is acquisition of 30% stake in MetLife India at an undisclosed amount.

In Oct 2011, PNB’ the Country’s second largest public sector bank, completed all formalities to acquire 30% stake in MetLife life insurance. PNB is expecting to start selling life insurance policies of MetLife from 14 January 2012 across the country.

Another unique initiative of PNB is PNB PRERNA”, an association of the wives of the Bank’s senior management. The association through its voluntary initiatives undertakes activities like distribution of food to the poor and needy, provision of computers, books, stationary items to poor girl students at various orphanages and schools etc.

World Series Hockey 2011 - Let it take place!!

2011-11-20T09:38:00.001-08:00

The World Series Hockey 2011, is expected to start on 17/12/2011, and already Hockey players are being warned not to part of it.

In case of participation, they risk of being not considered for National team opporutunities.

More on the World Series Hockey 2011, can be read @

http://thefansofhockey.com/2011/11/15/world-series-hockey-organizing-team/#.Tsk2vfRFusp

As a sports enthusiast, it makes sense for me for WSH 2011 to happen. Simple, this is ‘the opportunity’, Indian Hockey players to earn some decent money.

It is irrelevant to ponder who are the sponsors, as the only aim in life is to earn money.

Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India, should keep aside their differences atleast for this WSH 2011 series and let the players and the viewers have a great time.

Once WSH 2011 is over, they can go back to their warring ways.

Indian VolleyBall League, Karnataka Badminition League, have helped players to earn decent money and at the same time, engaged people’s attention.

The same is expected of WSH 2011, and many hockey lovers are looking forward to WSH 2011. Give Hockey a chance in it’s motherland.

Allahabad Bank - CashPOS - Debit Card Offer. Did you know?

2011-11-18T09:42:00.001-08:00

Allahabad Bank - CashPOS - Debit Card Offer. Did you know?

It was a pleasant surprise, to know Allahabad Bank is having Debit Card usage offers.

The offers can be viewed at

http://www.allahabadbank.com/offers-on-debit-card.asp

One key differentiator Allahabad Bank has is the Meals at Barista Lavazza

Offer 2 - 10% Discount Voucher For Next Purchase

•	10% discount vouchers will be given to first 50 Allahabad Bank cardholders each month who use their debit card to avail the cashPOS facility at each of the promotion outlets
•	The discount vouchers can be used for the next purchase during the Promotion Period at any of the Promotion Outlets

The Barista Lavazza CashPOS was started in June 2011, and this is India’s first cash withdrawal factiity at the Point of Sale in a retail store.

The origins of Allhabad Bank go back to Nineteenth Century.

Allahabad Bank is the Oldest Joint Stock Bank of the Country.

Allahabad Bank was founded on April 24, 1865 by a group of Europeans at Allahabad.

Thus, the History of the Bank spread over three Centuries - Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-First.

Allahabad Bank was part of the first wave of Bank Nationalisation in 1969.

Indusind Bank - Debit Card Cash Back. Did you try it out?

2011-11-13T20:42:00.001-08:00

The Debit Card Cash Back offers are getting interesting day by day. Each Bank is trying to innovate.

The basic principle is same a) minimum qualifying amount b) maximum cap per card

The differentiators are in the marketing campaigns.

Indusind bank too has rolled out a Debit Card Cash Back offer from 01/10/2011 to 31/12/2011.

Minimal details of the program can be viewed @

https://www.indusind.com/indusind/wcms/en/home/personal-banking/offers/cash-back-offers/index.html

The key differentiator here is that the cash back amount is the last 2 digits of the Rupee value in the transaction.

The quantum of Cash Back would be “last two Digits” of the Rupee Value of the Total Transaction. When the last 2 digits of the Rupee Value are “00” the Cash Back for the Transaction would be Rs 100. This is illustrated with examples below:
Transaction Value on eligible MCC (Rs.)
Cash Back(Rs.) - last two digits of the Rupee value
2688.22
88
3397.21
97
4200.07
100

The gate limit is Rs2500/-, and the limit is 10 eligible transactions per card, during the campaign period. This translates a cash back of Rs1,000/- for a spend of Rs25,000/-.

Well, this is in line with other ‘Cash Back’ offers in the industry.

Indusind Bank is part of the Hinduja Group. Hinduja Group has varied interests in Banking & Finance, Transport, Energy (Oil & Power) as well as the new economy of Technology, Media and Telecom.

Hindujas’ new abode in England, is the 100-million-pound palace near Buckingham

ING Vysya Bank signs MoU with LIC for ePayments.

2011-11-13T06:49:00.001-08:00

Seeing this Press Release, the quotation, ‘the early bird catches the worm,’ immediately came to my mind.

The need for a tie-up, can be traced to the recent Policy decision of LIC, to route all its payments to Policy Holders i.e Survival Benefit, Maturity, Loan, Surrenders, payments of Pension & Group Schemes etc., directly to the Bank Account of the Policyholder / Beneficiary w.e.f 01/10/2011.

NEFT was the Payment Channel to route the payments directly to the Banks accounts.

To activate this process, LIC had to work with a Bank. The Bank could have been it’s normal bankers or the Bank which first pitched a viable Payments Module.

AND the race was won by ING Vysya Bank with a MOU signed between ING Vysya Bank and LIC for ePayments.

The Press Release can be accessed @

http://www.ingvysyabank.com/pdf's/IVBLsigns%20MoU%20with%20LIC.pdf

As for the quote ‘ the early bird catches the worm’, origin can be traced to the 17th century.

This is first recorded in John Ray's A collection of English proverbs 1670, 1678:

"The early bird catcheth the worm."

Clearly, the title of the work indicates that this was considered proverbial even in the 17th century.

Incidentally, the ING history can also be traced to the 17th century, i.e The oldest legal predecessor of ING Group world-wide, is the Kooger Doodenbos from Koog, Noord Holland, founded in 1743

Business Prospects :

As per LIC website, in the financial year 2010-2011, payouts to 53 lacs policy holders were made. The payouts were for Maturity Payouts as well as Survival Benefits.

53 lacs + payouts means on an average 3 lac payouts per month. This will propel ING Vysya Bank to the top 5 in the NEFT volumes.

The icing on the cake, will be when the Commission payouts to Agents also move from paper-based to ePayment mode.

Oriental Bank of Commerce-Carry the Bank in your wallet!!!

2011-11-09T08:38:00.000-08:00

OBC’sadvertisement in Business Line of 08/11/2011, with the tag line – Carry theBank in your Wallet, attracted me to have a more detailed view of the variousservices its customers can avail at its ATM’s.

Well,as per the Bank’s website, the following ATM Services are being offered to thecustomers:

-- Balance Inquiry – The latest clear balancein the linked accounts can be ascertained.

-- Cash Withdrawal, Fast Cash – The basicfunction of an ATM.

-- Mini Statement – Normally, a printout ofthe last 5 transactions can be obtained.

-- PIN Change – Be careful to remember, thenext time you use the ATM card.

-- Funds transfer (only among accounts linkedto a card) – Some banks allow funds transfer to non-linked accounts too.

-- Cash/ Cheque Deposit in selected ATMs – Nota popular option in our country.

-- Income Tax Payment – More publicity willattract customer’s to try this option.

-- Cheque Status Inquiry – Customers need notcall up the branch or the phone banking team. This reduces the number of callsto the Branch or Phone Banking Team.

-- Stop Payment of Cheques – This has to be anonline facility rather than an off-line, as off-line mode, will increase thecustomer’s complaints.

-- POS facility Activation/ Deactivation –Seems to be a new feature.

-- SMS Alert Registration/ Modification of SMSAlert Mobile Number – Good to have.

-- MPAY Registration and De-registration –This also will reduce the burden on Branches and Phone Banking team.

OBCwas founded by the scion of the Thapar Group i.e , Late Rai Bahadur Lala SohanLal, in Lahore a prominent city ofPakistan.

The partitionnecessitated the shifting of the new banks’ registered office from Lahore toAmritsrar. It is to be noted that, the Late lala Karam Chand Thapar, the thenChairman of the Bank, in a unique gesture honoured the commitments made to thedepositors from Pakistan and paid every rupee to its departing customers

Anotherchallenging period was between 1970-76. At one time profit plummeted to Rs.175,and this prompted the owner of the bank, the Thapar House, to sell / close thebank. However the then employees and leaders of the Bank came forward to rescuethe Bank. The owners were moved and had to change their decision of selling thebank and in turn they decided to improve the position of the bank with theactive cooperation and support of all the employees. Their efforts bore fruitsand performance of the bank improved significantly. This was the turning pointin the history of the bank

Thebank was nationalized on 15th April, 1980. At that time total working of thebank was Rs.483 crores having 19th position among the 20 nationalised banks.

In1997, two Banks namely Punjab Co-operative Bank Ltd., and Bari Doab Bank Ltd.,were amalgamated with the bank under Government of India, notification on 7thApril.

However,for some strange reason, the banks’ website, does not mention the history ofthe Bank.

GePG - Launch of Government of India’s ePayment system

2011-11-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Electronic Payments juggernaut has started rolling and now Government of India has jumped into it.

A close look, at the growth of ePayments in India shows that the Government of India, was a major contributor in the growth of ePayments.

Taking one more step forward, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, inaugurated Government of India’s ePayment system on 31/10/2011

The fully secured ePayment system, has been developed by Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of the Finance Ministry.

The ePayment system, will enable direct credit of dues into the accounts of beneficiaries, electronically, and eliminate the need for transactions through cheques.

The Government Electronic Payment Gateway (GePG), interacts with the Banks CBS for enabling the payments.

The GePG can be scaled up, depending on the volumes.

The best part of GePG is that it can not only be used by the PAOs(Pay and Accounts Office’s) under the CGA’s(Controller General of Accounts) umbrella, but also other sister organizations in railways, defence, posts and telecommunication and yes, by the state governments too.

All inter-government advices for transfer to States can also be routed through this gateway mechanism.

The GePG will most probably use the NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) mode for credit to the ultimate beneficiary though new channels might be added in future.

However, as the Post Office Saving Banks accounts are not yet on the CBS or NEFT/RTGS channels, not sure how the Post Office Saving Bank accounts will be credited.

The majority of Co-operative Banks are also still not on the RTGS/NEFT platform, and a new approach is required to bring them under the ambit of ePayments.

GePG was soft launched in June 2011,

http://cga.nic.in/pdf/Revised_Operating_Procedure_of_e_Payment.pdf and the outer target to roll-out to the GePG in all pay and accounts offices of civil ministries is 31/03/2012.

The necessary Hardware,Software and the Digital Signature in all the PAO’s have to be in place by 01/01/2012.

This will enable that sufficient time is there for training and testing of GePG before the final roll-out by 31/01/2012 in 74 PAO’s.

Government of India Secretary(Expenditure), will be reviewing the progress on a regular basis.

As GePG is bank neutral, the PAO’s need not shift their banking accounts. The respective banks have to integrate the GePG with their CBS in their own interest, otherwise the PAO’s may be forced to look around for alternatives.

The GePG has been developed by CGA in close co-ordination with NIC and Banks.

Cheers to all the participants in making GePG live.

IndusInd Bank revises Savings Account interest rates

2011-10-31T10:00:00.001-07:00

Today, one more bank has increased it’s saving account interest rates.

Indusind Bank, has announced a revision in it’s Savings Account interest rates.

The rates are somewhat similar to Kotak Mahindra Bank rates i.e

Revised Rates

Savings Account balance up to Rs. 1 Lakh: 5.5% p.a.

Savings Account balance above Rs. 1 Lakh: 6% p.a.

Just wondering, what could be the response if YES Bank, had revised its Saving Account rate above 6.00%?

Indusind Bank commenced its banking operations in 1994, and as on 30/09/2011, IndusInd Bank has 350 branches, and 666 ATMs spread across 247 geographic locations of the country as on September 30, 2011.

It has also a presence in London and Dubai, with representative offices.

Kotak Mahindra Bank - Hike in Saving Bank Interest rates.

2011-10-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Kotak Mahindra Bank, part of the Kotak Group, has decided to increase the Interest on Saving Bank account’s.

It has increased by 2% for amounts over Rs.1lac and 1.50%, for amounts less than Rs1 lac i.e the effective rates will be 6% and 5.50%.

The new rates are effective from November 1, 2011.

The announcement has been made five days after the RBI allowed all banks to determine the Interest rates on SB balances on their own.

The Kotak Mahindra Group was established in 1985, and in Feb 2003, RBI granted the banking license to it’s flagship company i.e Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd.,

At present it has a physical presence via 323 branches spread all over India.

Axis Bank - Jahan Card Chalaao, Paise Bachaao - But only up to INR250/-!!

2011-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Axis Bank - Jahan Card Chalaao, Paise Bachaao - But only up to INR250/-!!

Axis Bank has launched a massive outdoor campaign to promote the usage of it’s Debit Cards

The tag line is ‘Jahan Card Chalaao, Paise Bachaao’.

The highlights are:

The campaign will be run in Blocks, and a Block is a week and is defined as starting on a Saturday and ending on the subsequent Friday.

Debit Card holders have to register for the campaign. The registration can be done via for the campaign through Axis Bank ATMs, Internet Banking or over Phone (1-800-233-5577, 1-800-209-5577 or 1-800-103-5577 and dial 6 to register). Well, registration cannot be done at the Axis Bank Branches. The registration will help Axis Bank to compile a data-base for targeted campaign.

The offer is valid till December 30, 2011.

The first 10,000 Axis Bank Debit Cardholders who spend a minimum of INR 5,000 (with minimum 3 transactions) in any given week (as defined above) and have registered for the offer would qualify for a 5% cash back on spends made in that week.

Purchase transactions at POS terminals or online purchases on Debit Cards only would be considered for the offer.

Cash withdrawals at ATMs or Point of Sale would not be considered.

Only spends made using the Debit card linked to the primary account would be considered for the cash back offer.

The maximum cash back amount that a Cardholder can get in any given week is INR 250. Hm, not sure what this means. Minimum of Rs5,000/- would have to be spent in a week, and the maximum of cash bank is INR250/- So, even if more than INR5,000/- is spent, the cash will be restricted to INR250/-

The cash back amount will not be credited back instantly, but will be credited latest by 15TH February 2012.

Visit http://www.axisbank.com/cardsmicrosite/default.aspx, for the detailed terms and conditions.

So, go ahead folks

01) Register your Axis Bank ATM Card

02) Start shopping, online or through POS

03) Wait for the cashback credit.

SMS ‘Unhappy’, State Bank of Mysore. Will you do it?

2011-10-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

State Bank of Mysore, too has jumped on to the mobile compliant resolution platform.

It has recently launched a introduced a customer friendly initiative called ‘SMS Unhappy', which will allow customers to express dissatisfaction regarding services of the bank by sending a cellular message 'unhappy'.

The ‘unhappy' message should be sent to 9900020002.

The process in brief is as under: -

01) Customer sends the ‘unhappy’, message to 9900020002

02) An automated acknowledgement is received by the customer.

03) A call is received from the Bank’s ‘Happy Room’, to note down the grievance.

04) The grievance is flashed to the concerned Bank Manager/Unit Head under copy to the bank's controllers at the regional offices, administrative office and the head office.

05) The grievance is attended too, and resolved.

06) A final SMS is sent to the customer, informing that the grievance is resolved.

State Bank of Mysore is 98years old, with 700 + branches spread all over the country. The bank branches chiefly concentrated in Karnataka state.

The main architect behind the establishment of the Bank, was the great Engineer-Statesman,Late Dr.Sir M.Visvesvaraya.

under the patronage of the erstwhile Govt. of Mysore.

In 1960, State Bank of Mysore, become the subsidiary of State Bank of India, and the present status is Associate Bank under the State Bank Group.

American Express Gift Card - 1 more player in the Indian Gift Card arena.

2011-10-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

With Diwali around the corner, more and more banks are jumping onto the Gift Card segment.

Last week, it was the turn of American Express, to enter the Gift Card segment.

As is the norm, no update are still available on the company's website.

The only source of information is the news articles and may be the American Express outlets.

A link to a news article is @

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2487506.ece

The card is launched in two variants -the Classic and the Diwali Gift card and no fees would be charged for such cards.

Obviously the card will be accepted by merchants who currently welcome American Express Cards, including online merchants here.

The gift card can be used any number of times, till the funds are depleted. This means, no additional balance can be loaded on it.

The American Express Gift Card is only in fixed denominations of Rs 500, Rs 1000, Rs 2000 and Rs 5000 denominations. The Gift Card is replaceable for free if lost or stolen.

Andhra Bank - Prepaid Card and International Travel Card. How are they?

2011-10-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

Andhra Bank has entered the Prepaid Gift Card and the International Travel Card business by launch of the two products on 01/10/2011

The link to a news article on this, can be accessed at : -

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/banking/article2503398.ece

The link for the Gift Card Application can be accessed at the following: -

http://www.andhrabank.in/Download/Forms/gift%20card_application.pdf

However the product details are not yet updated on the Bank's website.

So, the present sources of information for the Prepaid Gift Card and International Travel Card are the Andhra Bank's branches or news articles on the site.

However, there is online portal for Git Card customers to self-manage their Gift Card.

Hm, the self-care portal, is not activated for Google Chrome, however it is working fine in Internet Explorer.

The Prepaid card has been launched with MasterCard as the Card partner and allows the customers, to make purchases in stores, online or over the phone, where MasterCard prepaid cards are accepted (both in India and overseas).

Purchases can be made only up-to the initial value loaded and is not re-loadable.And, the balance is valid for 12 months, from the date of loading into the card.

State Bank of India 13,500 + branches working on Gandhi Jayanthi

2011-10-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today, Bellary the famous mining town in Karnataka, was once again in the news. Today, it was not due to the mining activity, but as being a cause for disruption of State Bank of India, CBS on 01/10/2011.

Due to a satellite link failure at Bellary, the banking operations in SBI's Pan-India branches got hit.

A complete break-down of the CBS is a rare event, that too for more than couple of hours.

However, SBI officials have raised to the occasion and a full working day was declared on 02/10/2011, to minimise the anger caused to it's customers.

This is an exemplary customer-friendly initiative from SBI, which will be appreciated by all it's customers.

As this is first of it's kind, there was no precedence too for SBI.

I am sure, the 01/10/2011, is good for Indian Banking system, and by now, top officials of RBI and other leading banks, must be contemplating steps to avoid repetition of the same.

However, there is not yet any Press Release from SBI on it's official website

Now, withdraw cash from ATM without card

2011-09-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Folks, wait, do not run to the nearest ATM, to withdraw Cash without an ATM card.

The following are the pre-requisites to empower you to withdraw Cash from an ATM without an ATM Card

01) You should be having a Saving Bank account with Indusind Bank.

02) You will have to register for the service through 4 modes a) Visit any Indusind Branch.

b) Visit any Indusind ATM. c) Visit Indusind's Internet banking site. d) Call up the Bank's customer service centre.

Once registered, what next?

You will receive a four-digit MPIN (mobile personal identification number), just like an ATM PIN. This MPIN will ensure security of the transaction and work as an authorisation code.

The most important part now. How to use it?

How do you use it?

01) Go to the IndusMobile application you have downloaded.

02) Use your MPIN and make a request to the bank for the cardless withdrawal facility, specifying the amount.

03) The bank will send you a temporary password.

04) You will have to generate another password for yourself as well through the application.

05) At the ATM, choose the cash-on-mobile option on the screen.

What are security checks?

There is a four-layered security check, to safeguard your amount.

a) You will be asked to enter your mobile number,

b) than the amount

c) than the temporary password sent by the bank

d) last but not the least, the password you generated.

What else security features you want?

Only when all four match, the ATM will dispense cash.

So, go ahead and enjoy the benefits of Cashwithdrawal through ATM, without an ATM Card

Well, this seems to be still in the testing stage, as Indusind Bank, is not yet popularising this new feature.

Ganesha Photos

2011-08-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

Union Bank of India launches “Union Chetna” - A distinctive information portal to bond with customers and employees.

2011-08-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

How does your Bank, Insurance Company, MutualFund house, keep in touch with you? The old fashioned paper way i.e paper basednewsletter or the new fashioned i.e digital newsletter.

Well, one of India’s most innovative Bank,Union Bank of India, has gone 1 step ahead.

Union Bank of India has launched an informationportal to connect with its customers and employees.

In brief, a Portal can said to be ‘a door orgate; hence, a way of entrance or exit, especially one that is grand andimposing.

During business hours, customer relevantinformation will be displayed. . The same window after business hours will bethe knowledge gateway for the staff. This can said to be a private TV channel.

Initially, the portal is being launched in 50Branches and 10 Village knowledge centres.

UnionChetna was inaugurated by RBI Governor on 18/08/2011, in Mumbai.

Union Chetna should also be on Youtube, thiswill be a great brand builder for Union Bank of India.

The next question is than what are Villageknowledge centres.

I quote from Union Bank of India, website

QUOTE

What is VKC?

Village Knowledge Centres serve as informationdissemination centre providing instant access to farmers to latest information/knowledge available in the field of agriculture, starting from crop productionto marketing. Every VKC is manned by a “VKC In-charge” who looks after theoperations of the VKC.

UNQUOTE

Interested in knowing more? Than log on to http://www.unionbankofindia.co.in/sfac.aspx

Rajkot Commercial Co-operative Bank Ltd., Rajkot – Penalised

2011-08-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Rajkot Commercial Co-operative BankLtd., Rajkot – Penalised

Rajkot the fourth largest city in Gujarat is innews recently, as the Rajkot Commercial Co-operative Bank Ltd., Rajkot has beenpenalized by Reserve Bank of India.

The Press Release can be accessed at

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=24918

A monetary penalty of Rs2lacs has been imposedby RBI, for not adhering to Reserve Bank of India's instructions on grant ofunsecured advances in excess of prescribed ceiling and director relatedadvances.

I quote from Reserve Bank of India, Master Circularon Board of Directors – Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks, regarding theguidelines on loans and advances to directors.

QUOTE

PROHIBITION ON LOANS AND ADVANCES TO DIRECTORS

Banks are prohibited to make, provide or renew eithersecured or unsecured loans and advances or extend any other financialaccommodation to their directors, or their relatives and thefirms/concerns/companies in which they are interested with effect from October1, 2003.

UNQUOTE

However, normal staff loans to directors areexempt from the above rule.

Rajkot is the largest city of Saurashtra situated at 138meters above MSL.

The specialty of Rajkot cuisine is thebreakfast option. You can try something new in Rajkot for Breakfast. Here, ganthiya is the best option forbreakfast. Ganthiya is not available only as prescribed above. Ganthiyas hereare of many types.

For example: fafda, vanela, bhavnagari, champakali etc.Ganthiya is basically stripes of dough made from besan flour + some spices +water and then fried into different shapes and tastes. It's not as easy to makeas it seems.

Processing of Investor Complaints in SEBI Complaints Redress System (SCORES). Have you any complaint?

2011-08-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Onemore regulator has embraced the electronic mode to handle complaints. Thistime, it is the turn of SEBI to launch SEBI Complaints RedressSystem (SCORES)

Thesoft launch was done June8, 2011 and it was thrown open to the public and otherusers on August 2, 2011.

SCOREShas been developed by National Informatics Centre, and is web-based with 24 X 7online access.

Ideally,all the investors have to lodge the complaints in SCORES only. However, whereSEBI receives hard copies of the complaints, the same will be scanned anduploaded into SCORE. The Compliance Officer of the entity (intermediary orlisted company), will update the ATR (Action Taken Report) online only. PhysicalATR’s will not be accepted by SEBI.

Well,the Compliance Officers need not worry; the market regulator would send a dailyalert on pending complaints to concerned compliance officers, in case theSCORES admin area is not checked daily for notifications.

- - SEBI has commencedprocessing of investor complaints in a centralized web based complaints redresssystem 'SCORES'. The salient features of this system are :

* Centralized database of all complaints.

* Online movement of complaints to theconcerned intermediaries

* Online upload of Action Taken Reports(ATRs) by the concerned entities, and

* Online viewing by investors of action onthe complaints and its current status.

TheFAQ’s for SCORES can be accessed @ http://scores.gov.in/FAQ-SCORES.pdf

Themajor advantage in this centralized lodgment of complaints, would be that overa period of time, SEBI would be able to pinpoint the major concern areas, andtake appropriate steps to remove them.

Sucha step will benefit the Investors and other players in the Investment arena.

Decks cleared for Rs1000/- coin. Are you ready?

2011-08-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

Decks cleared forRs1000/- coin. Are you ready?

TheCoinage Bill 2011 was recently passed by the Upper House.

ThisBill has a long history. This Bill was introducedin 17/12/2009 in the Lok Sabha . Subsequently, it was sent to the StandingCommittee and government accepted some of the recommendations on this Bill.

The Report of the Standing Committeeon Finance was presented to Lok Sabha on 31/08/2010.

Subsequently, the Bill was placedbefore the Lok Sabha and approval of the Lok Sabha was obtained.

The major reason for the introductionof the Coinage Bill, 2011, was the need to consolidate the Acts governingcurrency and coins.

Department of Economic Affairs foundthat currency and coins are covered by five Acts. These Acts are The MetalTokens Act,1889, The Indian Coinage Act, 1906, The Bronze Coin (Legal Tender) Act,1918, The Currency Ordinance, 1940 and The Small Coins Act, 1971.

Four Acts out of five were passedduring the colonial days. It was found that some of these Acts are to bechanged. Now, Government through the Coinage Bill 2011, is replacing the above5 Acts by a single Act.

One of the highlights of the CoinageBill 2011, is that Coins of various denominations can be provided but nothigher than Rs.1,000. Earlier provision wasup to any sum.

The user provisions, penal provisionsfor punishment with imprisonment up to seven years for offences relating tomelting, destruction and defacing of the coins are there. This penalty has alsobeen enhanced because it was found that the face value of the coin was lessthan the metal value of the coin. So, there was a tendency of collecting thosetypes of coins and getting them melted.

However, it is to be noted that the penaltyfor counterfeiting Coins/Currency Notes is higher than the penalty for destructionof coins. This is because counterfeiting is a bigger crime as compared to destruction.

Mr.Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Ministerhas pointed that the issuance of coins of Rs1,000/- is only an enablingprovision, and he did not specify when the provision would be introduced.

There are four mints in Kolkata,Hyderabad, Mumbai and NOIDA respectively, for minting coins.

Similarly, we have four currencyprints for printing currency notes in Nasik, Dewas, Mysore and Salboni.

IDBI Magic Card – What will you do to get it?

2011-08-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

IDBI Magic Card – What will you doto get it?

Ina single stroke, IDBI Bank has changed the rules of

1. Electronic Payments Industry

2. Salary Account acquisitions

3. Bank Brand Marketing

IDBIBank via its launch of ‘Magic Card’, has broken through the clutter of the Bankingproducts, and has raised the barrier for salary accounts acquisitions.

Yes,other banks will launch similar products, but IDBI will be pioneer in this segment.

The‘Magic Card’, is idea is so simple, that it was there for all Bankers to seeit, but only IDBI Bank could visualize it and bring it live.

Thehighlights of IDBI Bank’s Magic Card are :

1) It encompasses the features of a Debit Card with acredit limit.

2) The interest charges are less than a regular creditcard.

3) Thiscard incorporates the features of Debit Card as well as Credit Card. It willwork as a debit card till the account holder has balance in account, oncebalance is zero it will start functioning as a credit card.

4) This combination will lead to massive reduction inhassles faced by people in managing their transactions through multiple cards.

5) The card will be offered to eligible salary accountholders of IDBI Bank and the credit limit would be a multiple of the monthlysalary earned by the card holder.

6) The creditlimit will be either two or three times of net salary depending on therating of the organization.

7) There is no processing fee for the card, neither anycharge’s for cash withdrawal, with adaily limit of Rs50, 000/- from any bank ATM or purchase transaction.

8) There would also be loyalty points for amount spentfor purchases and insurance cover for lost/stolen/counterfeit cards etc.

QUOTE

'Thecard will work as a debit card till the account holder has balance in it butonce exhausted, any further withdrawal or expenditure on the card, magic cardwill act similar to a credit card,' IDBI Bank Chairman and Managing Director RM Malla said.

UNQUOTE

Thepress release can be accessed @

http://www.idbi.com/press/press%20release%201125.pdf

Syndicate Bank joins IMPS with soft launch

2011-04-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Syndicate Bank joins IMPS with soft launch

One more south Indian based bank, Syndicate Bank, has joined the IMPS club.

Syndicate Bank via a soft launch on March24, 2011, entered into IMPS.

A soft launch is necessary to ensure that all the players in the spoke are in sync with each other, and the customers do not face any glitches in the real launch.

Though the present Headoffice is located in Manipal, Karnataka, it’s roots can be traced to the temple town of Udipi.

Syndicate Bank was founded in 1925, as Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate Ltd.

The primary objective of the business was to extend the financial assistance to local weavers

As time progressed, Syndicate Bank, started taking other banks(around 20) into its fold including the Maharastra Apex Bank Limited and Southern India Apex Bank Limited.

Syndicate Bank in it’s 85+years old history, has many a first’s to its credit

1. 1. Introduction of daily Deposit Scheme called PIGMY SCHEME as early as 1928. This enabled the bank not only to shore up it’s CASA base but also aided in Brand Recall.

2. First Bank to open All Womens' Branch at Bangalore in 1962 which created a sensation in financial world, and proved to be a great success. This was a daring step, much ahead of its time.

3. Started Social Banking and Priority Sector Lending much before it became a Government of India Policy.

4. Sponsored the First Regional Rural Bank appropriately called "Prathama Bank" in 1975. Over the years, Syndicate Bank sponsored 10 RRB’s and all are profit making.

5. First Bank from South India to open a Branch in London (1976). This was just before the 1977 emergency.

6. Took up management of Al Shaibei Exchange Co. WLL in Doha and Musandam Exchange in Oman in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

With IMPS in its kitty, Syndicate Bank’s customers can look forward to another technical marvel.

Fed-e-Gate

2011-04-17T04:25:00.000-07:00

Fed-e-Gate

Federal Bank has quietly entered the world of ecommerce by launching a Payment Gateway i.e Fed-e-Gate.

More details can be obtained @ http://www.federalbank.co.in/SME-Business_ProductandServices_PaymentGateway.aspx

Quote

Fed-e-Gate is a one-stop solution that enables you to accept Credit and Debit Card Payments from your e-Commerce Web site securely.

Unquote

In simple terms, Payment Gateway is an ecommerce application which aids the ecommerce merchant to receive funds from its customers. The payments can be received from Credit Cards, Debit Cards or Netbanking.

Payment gateways provide the tools to process payments between customers, businesses, and banks.

Payment Gateways can be set up by Banks or third-party players. One of the most famous Payment Gateway is CC Avenue. Other Payment Gateways players in India are

§ EBS

§ DirecPay

§ HDFC

§ ICICI Payseal

As can be seen from the above list, the Payment Gateway community is an exclusive one, with few players. However the scope is vast.

The differentiator amongst Payment Gateway players apart from the pricing is the initial hand holding stage. In this aspect, Federal Bank has an edge, as being a new division, it will interested to build this as a profit-centre.

Another advantage I foresee is that the Bank is focusing Fed-e-Gate as an SME Product offering, which will appeal to its customers.

As Federal Bank is also a sponsor of Kochi Tuskers, Kochi Tuskers can be its first customer. This will be a win-win situation for both.

Axis Bank – India Travel Card

2011-04-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Axis Bank – India Travel Card

It was such a simple idea, staring at all Banking professionals, but no one thought off. Kudos to Axis Bank, for coming up with this thoughtful product for visitors from abroad.

Well, I am referring to the Axis Bank – India Travel Card

India Travel Card is India’s first and only Indian Currency prepaid travel card for

foreign nationals and non-resident Indians travelling to India.

The brief overview can be viewed @

http://www.axisbank.com/personal/forex/indiatravelcard/india-travel-card.asp

Well, in majority of the newspapers whether print or online, the contents are the same. So as a sample, only a single link is provided here @ http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article1149381.ece

The card is available at a large network of Licensed Money Changers and 192 designated branches of Axis Bank.

Initially the Product will be available at designated Axis Bank Branches and later at licensed money changers too.

One unique safe mechanism of the India Travel Card is that the Card Holder can set up daily withdrawal limits at POS terminals via Axis Bank Internet Banking site. This thoughtful feature will minimize impulsive purchases.

It is two months since the launch of India Travel Card, and the sales must be Zooming up.

SCB – World Debit Card

2011-04-03T04:31:00.000-07:00

SCB (Standard Chartered Bank) – World Debit Card

As the financial year 2010-2011, was coming to a close, SCB (Standard Chartered Bank), unveiled the World Debit Card for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) customers.

SME Banking World Debit Card is a first-of-its-kind cash management tool that provides convenience, savings and relationship rewards for small-and- medium-enterprise (SME) customers.

It is an ideal tool to separate business and personal expenses.

The present practice is to spend money from one’s pocket, and claim the reimbursement later, from the firm.

This can now be minimized.

The highlights are @ http://www.standardchartered.co.in/sme/debit-card/en/debit-landing.html

A newspaper article on the new product is @ http://www.rupeetalk.com/news/general/standard-chartered-unveils-sme-banking-world-debit-card.php

Top three features, which I like about this card, are

01) All the key personnel can be of the SME transactional account can avail individual cards, with individual spend limits.

02) The cards can be issued to individuals, who need not be authorized signatories of the firm’s bank’s accounts.

03) The reward points are converted to rupees as cash credit to the firm’s account.

This card will be available to all those SME customers, who have their transactional account with the bank.

I am sure; SCB has taken the necessary steps for appropriate transaction alerts, usage tracking by the SME’s finance department, and to eliminate fraudulent transactions.

Was thinking as to how the SMS alerts, emails alerts will be handled in this multiple cards linked to one account?

Trust SCB, in the near future, will introduce many more new Products from it’s Global platform in India, viz: Express Trade, SCB SME Venture, SCB SME Business Expansion etc

IMPS working on 01/04/2011

2011-03-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

Cheers, IMPS will be working on 01/04/2011. Now, Indians will truly now the value of 24*7, 365 days electronic mobile payment channel.

2011-03-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

Indian Bank – ATM Withdrawal Failure Complaints

Indian Bank has launched an exclusive channel for its ATM Card Holders to lodge complaints regarding ATM Withdrawal Failures.

Indian Bank customers and now lodge ATM withdrawal complaints online.

The link is @

http://210.212.240.180:5501/atm_wf/atmwf.aspx

Well, folks might wonder what is so innovative about this.

The following are the distinct features about Indian Bank’s channel.

01) In majority of the Banks, the customers have to contact their Base Branch to lodge the complaints.

02) In few Banks complaint can be lodged via the Tele Helpline or logging a complaint on the Bank’s website. There was no dedicated channel.

03) Another distinctive feature of Indian Bank is the Unique Serial Number for each complaint. And later the complaint status can be verified online, instead of contacting the Base Branch.

The Online feature will : -

Motivate employees to adhere to the deadlines, as the status is transparent

Spur more and more Indian Bank customers to opt for ATM withdrawals, as complaint lodgment is easy

City Union Bank – Online Term Deposit.

2011-03-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

City Union Bank – Online Term Deposit.

City Union Bank, a Bank with 106 years old history has launched a new Product -Online Term Deposits.

This is different from other Bank’s offering. All other Banks enable their customers to open Term Deposits via their Internet Banking Platform.

What differentiates CUB offering is that the customers can directly fill in the KYC Details ONLINE, generate the form and proceed with opening of the Term Deposit.

The link is @ http://www.cityunionbank.com/online1/index.html

I have not come across such a product in the present Indian Banking scenario, and it is an innovative product.

I have gone through the process, and it seems quite simple. The Marketing Team will contact the customer, to collect the forms and also the funding cheque.

And, the response has been quite phenomenal.

Kudos to the Product Team.

Federal Bank – Business Class

2011-02-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Federal Bank – Business Class

Federal Bank, become the first Indian Bank to offer its High Net worth Customers, access to Business Class Lounge facility at CIAL, Nedumbassery.

The Business Class Lounge facility at CIAL, Nedumbassery, is jointly maintained by Taj Hotels Group and Singapore Airlines.

FedSelect customer of the Bank would be issued an admit card from the Bank's Currency Exchange Bureau at the Airport which is to be used at the lounge to avail the facility.

Q: What are Business Class Lounges?

Ans: Business Class Lounges are private areas, within an Airport, with provisions to enhance comfort for frequent travelers/business class/first class passengers.

In the earlier days, the Lounges were maintained by individual airlines or airline alliances. However, with the era of outsourcing, the present day Lounges are maintained by Hospitality chains and the various airlines tie up with the chains. This is a win-win situation for all the players.

The travelers have access to high-end facilities and the shared facilities do not burn a hole in the airlines budget. As a differentiator, the Airlines appoint dedicated staff to cater to their customers.

Access to the Airport Lounges can be through fees, frequent traveler schemes, high-end credit cards.

And now, if you are a Federal Bank high net worth customer, you can access the lounge.

Through this, Federal Bank has opened up a new business opportunity for the Business Lounge operators. Of course, the same technique can be refined further by other Banks.

In the end, the customer is the ‘King’.

Cheers, Federal Bank

2011-02-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

HDFC Bank – Defence Salary Package

HDFC Bank too has joined the race to acquire Defence Accounts.

The Press Release can be accessed @ http://www.hdfcbank.com/common/pdf/HDFC_MoU_IndianArmy.pdf

Apart from HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank too have Defence Salary Package Accounts.

The facilities offered by HDFC Bank are almost common with facilities offered by State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

One differentiator as mentioned by HDFC Bank Country Head (retail liabilities, marketing & direct banking channels) Mr.Rahul Bhagat, could be loans at a concessional rate. The concession could range between 25-300 basis points, he said.

Federal Bank – Unlimited Free Access to all Indian ATM’s

2011-01-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

Federal Bank – Unlimited Free Access to all Indian ATM’s

On the occasion of the 62^nd Republic Day Celebrations, Kerala based Federal Bank unveiled a novel customer retention campaign i.e ‘NO TRANSACTION FEE ‘ will be levied for its customers on transactions, at other bank ATMs even beyond the cap of five transactions per month.

At present a debit card holder of a particular bank can do transactions at an ATM of a different bank up to five times a month. From the sixth transaction, most of the banks levy Rs20 per transaction.

With the introduction of the new facility, a Federal bank debit card holder can transact through any Banks ATM in the country, any number of times, without being levied any charges. This facility is extended to all debit card holders, irrespective of the type of account they hold,

QUOTE

Federal Bank introduces a new facility, wherein Federal bank's debit card holders can transact through any Bank’s ATM in the country, any number of times, without being levied any charges.

UNQUOTE

Yes, this will enable Federal Bank to shore up its CASA Balances but as a Safe ePayments motivator, I believe this step will increase cash transactions.

In majority of the Retail Outlets charge 2% of the Bill if a Credit Card/Debit Card is used to settle the Bill.

It would have been more attractive if Federal Bank waived this charge. As it is there is a waiver of the fuel surcharge.

Federal Bank on its website has a separate sub-section highlighting all its Paper Advertisements. The ATM Free Offer Advertisement will add luster to the section. Trust the same will be added soon.

UIDAI Tenders – Should funds move in Paper Mode or Electronic Mode ?

2011-01-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

UIDAI Tenders – Should funds move in Paper Mode or Electronic Mode ?

Let me confess, I am a bit confused as to where to position the UIDAI or the AADHAR, as it is now called.

Will it fit in Safe ePayments, Innovation in Banking or Simply Banking?

For the time being, AADHAR Blog Posts will be in Innovation in Banking.

Ok, where do I start off?

There are plenty of sites on UIDAI/AADHAR.

Each site is doing a wonderful job in spreading the role of UIDAI/AADHAR.

As with everything new, there are plus and minuses of UIDAI/AADHAR

I will be concentrating on the Plus Points and hope that the Minuses will be converted into Pluses on the way.

The basic question is what AADHAR is?

As per UIDAI site, it is a 12 digit numbers.

Clarity is required what is the relevance of each digit in the 12 number strands. Maybe it is too early for this information to be made public.

Several articles have been published on the AADHAR’s dependence for opening Bank Accounts i.e promoting electronic payments.

http://uidai.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=142&Itemid=135#aadhaarB

can be clicked for a introduction on UIDAI vision on micropayments.

But, what I find strange is that UIDAI still relies on Paper Instruments i.e Demand Drafts for purchase of of its tender documents

For eg:

QUOTE

The tender document containing eligibility criterion, scope of work, terms & conditions and draft agreement can be obtained from the undersigned by remitting an amount of Rs. 500/- in cash or DD in favour of “PAO, UIDAI” or downloaded from the website www.uidai.gov.in.

Those who download the tender document from website should enclose an additional DD for Rs 400.00 in favour of “PAO, UIDAI”, payable at New Delhi, along with their tender bid in the Cover-I “Technical Bid. The bid security (EMD) of Rs 10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only) should be paid by Demand Draft in favour of “PAO, UIDAI” payable at New Delhi

UNQUOTE

As a fanatic of Safe ePayments I would have preferred the funds to move in the Electronic Mode i.e National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT)

This would have also sent the right signals about ePayments to the followers of UIDAI

Transaction Value on eligible MCC (Rs.)	Cash Back(Rs.) - last two digits of the Rupee value
2688.22	88
3397.21	97
4200.07	100

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