Beena Parmar

Masala bonds a funding window for banks, but NPAs still weigh

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to allow banks to issue ‘masala bonds’ has opened up an additional source of funding for Indian lenders, who are facing difficulties in raising capital in the country.

War on black money: It’s m­-wallets vs UPI

India’s payment ecosystem has got a new boost in the form of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) to make digital payments and peer-to-peer money transfers. The question that now arises is, will it swallow up existing payments apps? Or will it encourage more consumers to venture into the market?

UPI allows you to transfer money without the bank account. Here’ how

On Thursday, the RBI approved the Unified Payment System (UPI), a common platform which links your bank account number to a virtual payment address, effectively making money transfer as easy as an SMS.

Banks turn lens on corporate cash flows to avert bad loans

So far, banks have been using these tools, with relative success, to track retail loans — loans extended to individuals. It is perhaps surprising that similar measures have not been applied on big corporate loans, despite recent instances of companies defaulting on big loans.

Banks turn lens on corporate cash flows to avert bad loans

RBI’s new chief a low-key, publicity-averse reformer

Urjit Patel: The man behind the new RBI governor

For a Kenya born and one who has been educated in the UK and US, Urjit Patel has strong views on RBI’s contribution to India’s growth. “Don’t try and put us into buckets. We are doing what is necessary for the economy. The primary focus is not the investors, not the markets, it is the consumer. How do we bring inflation down to the Indian consumer so that their welfare is improved?” Patel had said in the January 2014 monetary policy review.

Mobile wallets, e-commerce transactions on a rise: Survey

The adoption of mobile wallets to do recharge and e-commerce transactions has seen an increase among customers with an annual growth rate of 180%, while mobile transactions have been growing 80% per annum

SBI to be among world’s top 50 banks post merger

State Bank of India (SBI) is set to be among top 50 banks in the world after the government approved the proposal to merge five associate banks with it by end of March next year. Currently, no Indian bank features in the list of top 50 global banks.

SBI raises education loan cap five­fold to Rs 1.5 crore

SBI raises education loan cap five-fold to ₹1.5 crore

There is good news for students wanting to study abroad. State Bank of India has raised its limit for overseas education loans to ₹1.5 crore from ₹30 lakh earlier. It expects more demand with the government guarantee loan amount also increasing to ₹7.5 lakh from ₹ 4 lakh.

‘Retail loans will be the focus after IPO’

‘Critics are there, but there are also those who send thank you messages’

Critics are there all the time, it’s part of the job: Raghuram Rajan

It was a let-down for many people who had hoped that the RBI governor would give an interesting description about his three years at India’s central bank, on the occasion of his last monetary policy in office.

Had ‘fantastic tenure’; results will be visible in 5-6 years, Rajan says

Terming his tenure as “fantastic”, Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday said snap judgements by critics do not matter as he has made useful contributions and the results will visible in the next 5-6 years.

On­-tap bank licences in place, NBFCs gear up for second attempt

Barely a week after the Reserve Bank of India released norms for ‘on-tap’ bank licences, non-banking finance companies are gearing up to convert themselves into full-fledged lenders. The list of hopefuls include UAE Exchange, Manappuram, Muthoot and banking veterans Deutsche Bank co-head Anshu Jain and former Citibank global CEO Vikram Pandit.

On­-tap bank licences in place, NBFCs gear up for second attempt

Big banks turn to big data to track clients

State-run banks rush to cash in on pay commission salary hikes

Most state-run banks are looking to cash in on the salary hikes that central government employees will get in line with the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, which are expected to add ₹1.02 lakh crore to wages over 10 million employees.

Govt banks rush to cash in on pay commission windfall

Prepare yourself for lower returns on FDs

Banks set to see rise in commercial vehicle loans

Credit growth of banks drops to 5.7%

Credit growth of banks has dropped to a multi-year low of 5.7% as demand for large loans remained weak and private banks gained on the back of a healthy retail market share.

‘We are still open to payments banks partnerships’

Never say never: IDFC’s Rajiv Lall on Payments Bank

IDFC Bank, India’s youngest bank, grabbed attention when on July 12 it announced the acquisition of microfinance firm Grama Vidiyal. In May, it had similarly surprised everybody, including the RBI, when along with partners Telenor and industrialist Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank withdrew from setting up a Payments Bank.

RBI Central Board discusses macro-economic developments, MPC

The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday discussed the constitution of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the central bank’s budget and macroeconomic developments, among other issues during the meeting held in the country’s IT capital Bengaluru .

Kingfisher Airlines application: DRT may pass order today

The Debt Recovery Tribunal may pass orders on July 7 on an application by Kingfisher Airlines seeking amendment to its earlier written reply to the original application (OA) filed by a consortium of banks in the Vijay Mallya case.

NPS assets more than double to ₹1.2 lakh cr

Credit offtake low, but card debt surges 30% to over ₹40,000 cr

Kingfisher house set to be auctioned again