Bank accounts operations now within the ambit of kids even:

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Rigid stipulations in respect of operations on bank accounts having since been relaxed, certain banks like ICICI Bank and State Bank of India are now to permit even the kids to open and operate their bank account(s) in terms of necessary guidelines issued earlier by Reserve Bank of India. Certain conditions laid down for the purpose are:

• The account holder should be minimum 10 years of age and above.
• The maximum withdrawal limit is not to exceed 50,000 in terms of Indian rupee.
• The kid concerned should be fully conversant on signing so that the signature fully tallies when asked to repeat the signature.
• As account holder kids concerned are equally authorised to operate the ATMs also. The observation made by the authorities concerned in this connection reads as follows:

“We do not expect the child to go to the ATM unaccompanied. But instead of making it a guardian operated account we are leaving it to the parent to guide  the child.”

Technorati Tags: bank,accounts,operation,limit,atms,signature,tally,parent

On compassionate appointments in Banks:

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A post with relevant details on another blog ‘Avenues’ was published to facilitate necessary followup by the grief stricken dependents of the deceased employees in banking industry on the 14th August’2014 necessary link in respect of which is given below for the information and the desired use by the needy spouse and other dependents:

http://uppermost.me/2014/08/14/compassionate-appointments-in-banks-reintroduced/

There was a large number of comments exchanged by the readers of the said blog post containing useful awareness in relation to the scheme. The purpose of referring the above link here is to extend the use of the guidelines contained therein by way of queries and answers to the readers of this blog also particularly those needing assistance on the compassionate appointment matters. The readers in general are requested to see to it that the relevant information positively reaches the needy ones as after all it is a noble cause.

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Scandalising non performing assets:

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The very term NPA (Non Performing Assets) quite often heard mainly with reference to different banks, both in public sector and private sector, looks just so plain on the face of it but factually it borders serious scandals financially and there are many a bankers who have used it as a tool for an organised corruption. CEOs of various banks have been too liberal with the borrowers in the matter of recovery of loans so granted to them which gesture is much beyond the normal professional requirements, they were in fact more obliged than accommodated need based in terms of the routine banking norms and the relevant guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India. What could be the reason behind these executives being so over liberal? Obviously their bonafides  are not above board. One Chairman of State Bank of India, the very predecessor to the present incumbent incharge, was smart enough to divert major chunk of NPAs to bad debts with the result that it showed an unprecedented loss to the Bank. Several other CEOs in number of other banks including Syndicate Bank did the same thing. Fishy deals like this are not the ones to be just taken lightly, they in fact warrant a large scale probe in the matter awarding necessary punishments to those found guilty.

Technorati Tags: scandal,corruption,fishy,deals,punishment,probe,guilty,statebankofindia,syndicatebank,reservebankofindia,chiefexecutiveofficers

Ever hungry M.Ps. want higher limits for poll expenses:

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Call it hunger or lust, the Members of Parliament, at least majority of them if not all, all along have an unquenchable thirst for money in some name or the other as if hyper jump in their salary and allowances last time with basic pay alone fixed at one lakh per month was not enough. They are practically on a loot of public exchequer for their own comforts and luxuries. Now many of them are clamouring for an enhancement in their poll expenses limit. There are many contestants who already spent in their last elections much beyond the limit prescribed by the Election Commission which is an offence but nothing sort of any penalty or punishment happened to them. Their allowances other than salary are innumerable. They are the ones who raise hue and cry every time there are demands raised for improvement in monthly emoluments for the employees of public sector undertakings including banks who toil hard with their sweat and blood in the interest of the people of the country. Employees are forbidden by their service rules to opt for any side job or business as against the M.Ps. who have a multiple tier of businesses to earn a hefty income besides their own salary and allowances. It is a sheer corruption in a way and time has come for the concerned authorities that be in the matter to cry a robust halt to their ill manoeuvred designs to grab public money some way or the other.

Technorati Tags: salaryandallowances,hefty,publicundertaking,corruption,employees,undertaking,grab,money

A new development Bank–BRICS:

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No doubt it was UPA to join the initiative on formation of BRICS initially, credit certainly goes to the present Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi who saw to it that it physically takes off. The very name BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the countries to jointly partner the project. The Bank aims at fostering various developmental plans globally. Also the credit to mobilise the case for an Indian to become the first head of the Bank for initial six years with its headquarters in China goes to Narendra Modi, a matter of laurels to him. The formation of BRICS very much fits into dream plans of the Indian Prime Minister on developments in the country. The measure is likely to render a secondary importance to West dominated financial forums like World Bank and International Monetary Fund after it is operational as it may no more be a compulsory dependence on these organisations for the countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as because they have more healthy an option in BRICS available to them now.

Technorati Tags: developments,financial,internationalmonetaryfund,worldbank,brazil,russia,india,china,southafrica,secondary,option,dependence

Banks can no more penalise customers just on minimum balance:

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Bankers in India have a practice of imposing penalty on the customers whose savings bank account balances go down the minimum balance level prescribed for the purpose. It is a sigh of relief for those customers whose savings bank account(s) balance is below the minimum prescribed after Reserve Bank of India issued the directions to do away with the penalty resorting to cutting down certain special services like cheque book instead. The directive so released reads like this:

• “Banks should not take undue advantage of customer difficulty or inattention. Instead of levying penal charges for non maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank accounts banks should limit services available on such accounts to those available to basic savings bank deposit account and restore the services when the balances improve to the minimum required level”.

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Again an increase in ATM charges:

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There is again an increase in the offing in ATM charges for the users as proposed by a bankers committee exclusively formed for the purpose. Even though there have been setbacks to several bankers on account of their huge NPAs they still had bigger profits overall but they continue having their eyes fixed on more and more profits every now and then increasing charges on different counts to be suffered by the clients. ATMs are now an area which have become the basic base of routine banking transactions for the common people and it is they who feel badly over taxed whenever transaction charges in their respect are increased. If there was even the least possible consideration for the common people, there was no case for proposing further increase in the charges in respect of ATMs at least.

Technorati Tags: banking,atms,transactions,charges,profits,npa,increase,commonpeople,users

Every things boils down to money:

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No kind of service or some relaxation is available without paying something extra for it and this has become the routine trend of the financial institutions. Know Your Customer (KYC) is the scheme launched in banking industry exclusively for generating awareness amongst the customers in relation to keeping necessary information on their accounts duly updated and there is actually no reason why there should be any charge for it but now they are levying a charge as a penalty. State Bank of India claiming to be “the banker to every Indian” has levied it at Rs.112/. In a way this is a customer service and this was and should be without any extra charge. This way or that, the motive of the bankers is to earn profit without really being serious about an adequate service to the customers. This is discouraging and warrants to be withdrawn.

Technorati Tags: customerservice,bankingindustry,banks,statebankofindia,levy,penalty,account,information,knowyourcustomer,kyc

ATMs in banks are now MayBank ATMs:

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There are rapid improvements in the mode of cashless banking and with that purpose in view different banks in the country are resorting to remodelling their ATMs. These ATMs are now to work as MayBank ATMs attending to the need of deposits being made through them. Obviously with such a device having been added to the current machines this is surely to make the banking transactions more feasible for the customers. They may now have not to face the hardships of standing in the queue for hours together in different branches of various banks waiting for their turn to make deposits through their cheques. Similar arguments were given earlier when the automated teller machines were introduced but it didn’t result into reduction of the queues in the bank and may be the addition of cheque deposit machine (CDM) to existing ATMs does not procure the desired results. The reasons are obvious as the bankers are reducing their staff component day by day instead of recruiting new employees in the requisite manner. It is just utopian to think that machines may altogether replace the workforce. Machines are okay but to make them more compatible to the needs of the customers it is but essential that their intake be increased instead of slashing down the staff strength. Sufficient increase in workforce coupled with modernised machines may serve the interest of the customers in a bigger measure.

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Cost for even minor most relaxations:

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Automated Teller Machines installed by various banks in different locations extended necessary facilitation to the consumers in a better way, and more than that they saved much of money to the concerned bankers which they had to otherwise spend on managing those payment across the counters in their branches. Customers had every reason to feel a sigh of relief in getting their payments through the ATMs without waiting for their turn standing in the long queues in the branches. Now this small relaxation to the consumers is being made a costly affairs as it has since been decided by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) to levy a charge on withdrawals if they exceed a prescribed number of transactions. The reason given by the Chairperson of State Bank of India, Arundhati Bhattacharya, is that ATMs are giving losses to the Bank on account of which this service is not financially feasible, hence some charge is the must. This is too false an argument as these machines are in fact saving lot of money for the bankers which they might have had to spend in engaging a bigger number of staff to handle the pressure of customers rush. This is an era when there is extra charge for every thing and for that reason even the smallest possible service through ATMs too is not being allowed free of some direct charge. After all it is the customer who has to suffer. Bank like State Bank of India is regular in incurring losses on account of their erratic way of handling the transactions and a lavish way of expenditure in unproductive areas and not because of some relaxation or the other to its customers.

Technorati Tags: atms,losses,relaxation,expenditure,customers,transactions,statebankofindia,pressure,queues,consumers

Another feather in the cap of women careerists:

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usha ananthasubramanian

It’s a happy sign that there are many a women executives who are joining as the Head of different organisations in the country, the latest being Usha Anantha Subramanian who has since been appointed as the first woman Chairman of the newly started Womens’ Bank in India. The Board which is being setup for this new type of Bank is to consist of the women only as Directors in it. The Bank is to be managed all by women themselves exclusively. The banking operations, however, may have to involve also customers other than the women. First of its kind in India, the Bank is supposed to promote a banking that is women friendly. This is a new venture and hopefully this meets the demand for exclusively a women’s Bank pending for a long time with result orientation in a healthy way. Please read this in conjunction with the link given below:

Link: http://tapovan976.org/2013/11/21/gender-changea-need-of-the-day/

Technorati Tags: gender,woman,sir,madam,orientation,chairman,president,usha,careerists,venture,need,feather

Bank accounts to be opened with zero balance now:

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It’s a good news in a way that as per Reserve Bank of India directives the customers can open their Saving Bank A/cs with zero balance. Presently this amount was around minimum Rs.1,000/ varying from bank to bank. There are many who are desirous of opening an account in some bank or the other but they are unable to do so for want of necessary minimum amount. If the directives so issued hold good in real practical terms, the news is very satisfying to the needy customers and the consumers, but the real problem is that of its implementation. There are already instructions to open the accounts of students with zero balance but the respective banks are defying them. It has yet to be seen in days to come whether the banks come forward with necessary compliance of the Reserve Bank of India directives. If they do, this is certainly a welcome gesture.

Technorati Tags: savingbankaccounts,banks,reservebankofindia,directions,instructions,defy,welcomegesture,zerobalance,students

Car loan is a difficult task now:

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No more easy it is now to go for a car loan as the bank like State Bank of India have since come out with stiff stipulations in respect of eligibility for taking loan to purchase an auto vehicle. Besides State Bank, other banks are also preparing themselves to fall in line. To acquire necessary eligibility to by a car financed by the bank, one may have to fulfil the following conditions:

• Bank account statement for the last twelve months.
• Two passport sized photographs.
• Signature identification from the bankers of the borrowers.
• Passport, Voter ID Card, Pan Card.
• Proof for the residential address of the borrower.
• Latest salary slip in the case of salaried employees or some other proof in support of the borrower’s income.
• Income tax return for the last two years in the case of salaried employees and three years in the case of self employed business men.

Except two passport sized photographs, all other stipulations are an arduous task to manage. More over, different banks are also fixing up a minimum annual salary amount ranging from 1.45 lakhs to 6 lakhs. Bankers and other financers are trying their best still to secure a largest possible number of borrowers for different vehicles but with the conditions obtaining as above they may only suffer a set back on this segment.

Technorati Tags: vehicles,borrowings,borrowers,banks,statebankofindia,segment,business,eligibility,loan

Religion based banking in the offing:

Necessary nod has since been given to the Government of Kerala by the Reserve Bank of India to go ahead with the formation of a financial institution falling in line with Islamic principles. This Shariah compliant body will be the one not charging any interest on the advances made nor it will accept any interest on the deposits it will receive from the customers. It will also desist from dealing with transactions related to tobacco, liquor and speculative tradings. Islamic principles prohibit charging interest on borrowings and also on deposits received. It is quite nice an approach but the question is how a financial institution can survive without any intake of earnings by way of interest on the money lent out. Obviously there shall be many a takers so far as borrowings are concerned but who could be the people to deposit their hard earned savings without getting any thing by way of some interest on them. Only volunteers can do it but there again it is the number that counts as no purpose can be served if such depositors are only few and far between. May be some religiously committed people come forward making the institution work viably. All the best to the new venture.

Technorati Tags: islam,shariat,principles,interest,borrowings,deposits,viable,tobacco,liquor,tradings,business

‘KYC’ need not be taken lightly:

As prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India, the programme like KYC (Know your customer)/ anti money laundering norms compulsorily to be adhered to by all the banks is normally taken by the respective banks and equally by the customers in a lighter way. This resulted into Reserve Bank of India imposing a fine to the tune of 49.5 crores on 22 private and public sector banks including the giant banks like State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank for violating the norms so laid down in terms of ‘Know your customer’. ‘Know your customer’ is a small form which the bankers are required to get duly filled in by their customers from time to time as an anti money laundering measure. The customers too hardly take it seriously with the result that their relative bank accounts continue to be irregular in the absence of their updated bonafides and credentials. This is not only just a matter of a routine formality on the part of the  banks, more than that it is equally the responsibility of the customers concerned to ensure that there is nothing limping in the matters of their records with the banks. The measure is in the interest of both the banks and the customers and is supposed to be duly adhered to by them. Penalty imposed by the Reserve Bank of India is not an end of the problem in to itself, it rather requires more stringent an action to ensure the needful.

Technorati Tags: kyc,knowyourcustomer,bankers,penalty,reservebankofindia,stringentaction,customers

Think twice before paying bills online:

Damn easy it looks to be to pay the bills on line without any hassle of any kind as a matter of two minutes job. One needs not treading in fools paradise as this kind of transactional ease may cost the user heavily. One Anil Kumar at New Delhi paid his electricity bill for Rs.2,340/ and got the confirmation that the transaction was a success followed immediately by another message that the transaction was a failure. It was further followed by a telephone call to Anil Kumar asking for his account details and also his ID, Pin number and password which he innocently and in good faith provided. Finally when he contacted his bank to confirm his account position, he was advised that his account was debited within 5 minutes by successive 5 withdrawals of 10,000/ each. He was in fact duped and cheated suffering loss of money to the tune of 50,000/. This is how it is becoming a normal trend for the cheaters and the hackers to loot the money of the account holders in different banks. Anil Kumar failed to follow the oft repeated precautions by different banks never to give account details with Id, pin, password to any body else. Had he followed this advice he would not have been cheated like the way he was. Let it be a serious note of alert and precaution for those who go through this post sharing the same with others as their well wisher.

Technorati Tags: fraud,cheating,money,onlineoperation,id,pin,password,customer

Customer service in banks:

Different banks in the country including State Bank of India have undergone massive changes in their methodology of work to ensure that the valued customers are in no way inconvenienced. Needless to say that to fulfil such a task the workforce in almost all banks has to work much beyond their stipulated working hours arduously and indefatigably. There are still, as an exception of course, when the faults occur on the part of the managers and the junior staff. Some time back a customer, doctor by profession, presented a cheque and it was not honoured with the remark that it was mismatched and the relative signature of the account holder didn’t tally with the one on record. On enquiry it was found that the relative cheque was quite in order. The matter was referred to the Maharashtra State Consumers Disputes Redressal Commission who ordered the respective bank to pay seven lakhs of rupees to the customer for the damages he might have suffered because of the cheque having been wrongfully dishonoured.

Technorati Tags: customerservice,banks,cheque,service,methodology

Payments by cheques to be more secure effective from the New Year:

It’s a good news for the customers of different banks that their transactions through cheques shall now be more secure and feasible in terms of the new guide lines issued by the Reserve Bank of India. This arrangement is likely to be in practice with effect from 1st January’2013. To facilitate transaction in more safe a  manner, the new cheque book series will have to be used replacing the old one. Bankers have already started contacting their customer to apprise them of the new change. The new cheque books are to be supplied by the respective bankers free of cost to their customers on their home address. The customers who do not receive such cheque books, may have to collect the same from their bank concerned without any extra payment. These new cheque books are being issued in terms of Cheque Truncation System which ensures more of safety and security. The old cheques will not be accepted after 31st December’2012 and they will have to be readdressed. This system under the new scheme is also supposed to expedite payments presently done through clearing as the relative transaction shall be put through the same day. The collection of cheques through clearing system presently takes around a week’s time. As it looks now, the transaction through cheques is certainly likely to be feasibly convenient to the customers.

Technorati Tags: cheques,collection,clearing,customers,chequetruncationsystem,banks

Banks–another user friendly device on Mobiles:

Thanks to tough competition amongst the bankers as this is what forces them to mechanise one system after the other preceded by an otherwise large scale computerisation in almost all banks. The latest device so made available to the customers by them is in relation to quick access to their accounts through any mobile which step is certainly a matter of appreciation. What the account holders are required to do is to just dial *99# to get access to their respective account, know their balance, transfer funds or make a requisition for a new cheque book. The mechanism so applied through mobile phones is just simple and user friendly. Since the device is an universal one under USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) platform, it is capable of directly connecting to the concerned bank’s server when *99# is dialled on a mobile phone. The system so evolved is likely to get implemented shortly in all banks throughout the country.

Technorati Tags: banks,device,mechanism,customers,accountholders,ussd

What is there in a Password?

Why different banks and several other financial organisations talk of a password every now and then emphasising so much on its security? They are doing it rightly, and it is purely in the interest of customers, the customers who are having their accounts in some bank or the other, or particularly those who are resorting to online operations. The technological development in much advanced a shape as it stands today not only provides several avenues for transacting their business in multiple ways, it also furnishes different capabilities to those who resort to fraudulently withdraw the funds of others by hacking their IDs including password. Bankers are taking all precautions to check it by remaining vigilant on such operations themselves and by providing various guidelines to customers from time to time as to what methods the customers should adopt for overcoming the problem. These guidelines include that no body should ever divulge his/ her password to any body else, and that better it is to keep the password in one’s own memory instead of writing it down any where. While using ATM, the customer must push the ‘clear’ button on the ATM board before initiating his/ her own operation procedure, and this mode of operation has to be repeated also after the operation is over. What happens is that the ATM machine very often retains the contents of the individual operation in its memory, and the chances are that such an information can be used by some one else also. There are complaints every now and then that some body’s account was debited with huge amount of which the account holder himself had no knowledge at all. Password, for all these reasons, is always required to be kept as strictly and virtually private and confidential, and this reduces the possibilities of any fraud being perpetrated.

Technorati Tags: password,atm,fraud,privateandconfidential,operation,technology