The State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest lender in the coming months will be launching ‘mobile wallet’- a first of its kind which will reduce weight of our wallets as we don’t have to stuff our wallets with cash when we go for buying vegetables or going to a restaurant. It will also speed up the process for transactions linked to savings account.
A senior official from the bank said, “It will be a stored-value account (based on a) customer handset and it is primarily meant to attract new customers.”
In mobile banking service, the consume sends a payment request via a short messaging service (SMS) text message or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) to a short code and a charge is applied to the customer’s phone bill or, in the proposed SBI unique mobile wallet scheme.
SBI’s mobile wallet scheme will be operational most probably either by the end of August or September this year. The official informed that bank will not levy any charges for opening a mobile wallet and for mobile-to-mobile transactions.
Bank customers who have high-end mobiles can use the service through an application provided by the bank, while low-end mobile users can use SMS.
The high-end mobile users will also be allowed to withdraw cash up to Rs 5,000. The whole transaction process will be secure as the data will go through end-to-end encryption. While the low-end mobile users will not be allowed to withdraw cash but, these consumers will be allowed to use a mobile only for small payments.
However bank has not clarified whether it will charge for cash withdrawals. But the official said the charges for withdrawal can be 1% on the cash withdrawn from an account. At present, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows only Rs5,000 to be withdrawn through such mobile transactions.
For providing this service, official told, SBI has already signed an agreement with various service providers like Vodafone Essar, Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Tata Docomo and Idea.
Recently, the SBI customers who did not had mobiles equipped with Java or GPRS allowed them to access its application- —‘State Bank freedoM’- which could be availed from all application bases, over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and over USSD.
Using this service customers can transfer funds, view balance and mini-statements of their accounts, pay bills, request for cheque book, recharge of prepaid mobile connections, viewing of demat account details, top-up of direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV services, and m-commerce transactions.
SBI launched its 'State Bank freedoM’ service on a pilot basis in March 2009 at all its branches.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
SBI to reach out to around 50,000 unbanked villages as part of financial inclusion drive
The country's largest lender, State Bank of India will be reaching out to around 50,000 unbanked villages in the current fiscal as a part of its financial inclusion drive.
“The bank under financial inclusion initiative has planned to cover 50,000 unbanked villages during 2010-11 which will take total reach to 1,50,000 villages,” a senior official of SBI told PTI.
To achieve this target the bank will be hiring 15,000 business correspondents who will visit rural areas and help people in opening bank accounts.
The official said, “In order to expand our presence in the unbanked areas, the bank intends to hire around 15,000 (business correspondents) in 2010—11.”
The official said as it is not possible for banks to open branches in every villages, thus with the help of a business correspondent and business facilitator model it will be possible to take banking facilities to every part of the country.
In Budget 2011, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said, “To reach the benefits of banking services to the ’Aam Aadmi’ (common man), the RBI had set up a high-level committee on the lead bank scheme.”
Mukherjee had said, “It is also proposed to extend insurance and other services to the targeted beneficiaries. These services will be provided using the business correspondent and other models with appropriate technology back up. By this arrangement, it is proposed to cover 60,000 habitations”.
“The bank under financial inclusion initiative has planned to cover 50,000 unbanked villages during 2010-11 which will take total reach to 1,50,000 villages,” a senior official of SBI told PTI.
To achieve this target the bank will be hiring 15,000 business correspondents who will visit rural areas and help people in opening bank accounts.
The official said, “In order to expand our presence in the unbanked areas, the bank intends to hire around 15,000 (business correspondents) in 2010—11.”
The official said as it is not possible for banks to open branches in every villages, thus with the help of a business correspondent and business facilitator model it will be possible to take banking facilities to every part of the country.
In Budget 2011, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said, “To reach the benefits of banking services to the ’Aam Aadmi’ (common man), the RBI had set up a high-level committee on the lead bank scheme.”
Mukherjee had said, “It is also proposed to extend insurance and other services to the targeted beneficiaries. These services will be provided using the business correspondent and other models with appropriate technology back up. By this arrangement, it is proposed to cover 60,000 habitations”.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
SBP extended its teaser loan scheme & re-introduced car loan scheme
State Bank of Patiala has also extended its teaser rate scheme of 8% on Home Loan and has re-introduced Ezee Car Loan Scheme till 30th June, 2010. Under its home loan scheme, SBOP is offering fixed rate of interest of 8% for the 1st year and 9% for 2nd and 3yrd year and after that the prevailing rate linked with BPLR/ Base Rate will be applicable. The maximum tenure of the loan is 25 years.
Bank has also re-introduced its Ezee Car Loan Scheme which will be effective from 7th May, 2010. Under this scheme bank is offering fixed rate of 8% for the 1 st year and 10% for 2 nd and 3 rd year and thereafter prevailing rate linked with BPLR/ Base Rate will be applicable. The maximum tenure is 7 years.
Bank said it will not charge repayment penalty if borrower offers to pre-pay the loan at the time of reset in both house and car loans.
Bank has also re-introduced its Ezee Car Loan Scheme which will be effective from 7th May, 2010. Under this scheme bank is offering fixed rate of 8% for the 1 st year and 10% for 2 nd and 3 rd year and thereafter prevailing rate linked with BPLR/ Base Rate will be applicable. The maximum tenure is 7 years.
Bank said it will not charge repayment penalty if borrower offers to pre-pay the loan at the time of reset in both house and car loans.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
SBI installs ‘Tiny Branch’ at its hilly region branch office
SBI has installed ‘Tiny Branch’, at its hilly region branch of Seiling in Mizoram. Earlier bank was finding difficulty in tapping customers in the naxal-hit Dantewada or the hilly region of Seiling in Mizoram, thus it was looking for a solution which is low-cost, safe and easy to operate. When Anurag Gupta, founder and director of the Zero Mass Foundation (ZMF) approached SBI with his idea of the ‘Tiny Branch’, the bank accepted it.
The Tiny Branch costs Rs 15,000 per installation and comprises of a mobile phone and a fingerprint scanner. A Nokia phone has been designed specially for ZMF to identify RFID tags; it also has an inbuilt application that helps in new account opening and to carry out other banking transactions.
The phone will be able to hold data of up to 50,000 customers for a period of five years. The phone will also take pictures of the customer for making the account card and records his name in his own voice as a voice tag, to be used later for verification purposes.
Along with written details, during enrolment, five fingers are scanned and the fingerprints recorded. The equipment can record details in 11 languages including Arabic.
Once bank completes it procedure in all villages, ZMF will step in, looking for help from the village elders or the Panchayat to appoint Customer Service Points (CSPs). CSPs equipped with mobile phone and fingerprint scanner, will be responsible for acquiring customers and also undertake banking transactions in the village.
Gupta explained, “We mostly recruit women, preferably with matriculate level of education.” There are 24,000 CSPs that the assist ZMF to carry out the bank’s business out of which 98% are women. It is essential that local branch should be near for the Tiny Branch to deliver cash, form submissions/collections and issuing of new account cards.
The devices work on a battery that can be charged using a solar panel so there is no problem in the installation of the devices. Similarly there is no need of internet connectivity for enrolling customers or carrying out transactions. However, transactions have to be backed up on an hourly basis through GPRS. Sometimes there can be connectivity problem?
“CSPs sometimes tie the mobile phone to a bamboo stick and hoist it on top of their house to transmit data,” says Gupta about the ingenious ways used in difficult conditions.
Gupta has been always innovative, from being an architect to creating smart systems like mchek — a mobile payment platform to the GO Mumbai smart card. He said, “The Tiny Branch is one of our most important creations and I had to let go of others in order to concentrate on this.”
Although Rs 15,000 might be low-cost, Gupta is far from being satisfied. He has brought down the cost of the system, he also hopes to install 250,000 of these Tiny Branch’s across Indian villages.
The Tiny Branch costs Rs 15,000 per installation and comprises of a mobile phone and a fingerprint scanner. A Nokia phone has been designed specially for ZMF to identify RFID tags; it also has an inbuilt application that helps in new account opening and to carry out other banking transactions.
The phone will be able to hold data of up to 50,000 customers for a period of five years. The phone will also take pictures of the customer for making the account card and records his name in his own voice as a voice tag, to be used later for verification purposes.
Along with written details, during enrolment, five fingers are scanned and the fingerprints recorded. The equipment can record details in 11 languages including Arabic.
Once bank completes it procedure in all villages, ZMF will step in, looking for help from the village elders or the Panchayat to appoint Customer Service Points (CSPs). CSPs equipped with mobile phone and fingerprint scanner, will be responsible for acquiring customers and also undertake banking transactions in the village.
Gupta explained, “We mostly recruit women, preferably with matriculate level of education.” There are 24,000 CSPs that the assist ZMF to carry out the bank’s business out of which 98% are women. It is essential that local branch should be near for the Tiny Branch to deliver cash, form submissions/collections and issuing of new account cards.
The devices work on a battery that can be charged using a solar panel so there is no problem in the installation of the devices. Similarly there is no need of internet connectivity for enrolling customers or carrying out transactions. However, transactions have to be backed up on an hourly basis through GPRS. Sometimes there can be connectivity problem?
“CSPs sometimes tie the mobile phone to a bamboo stick and hoist it on top of their house to transmit data,” says Gupta about the ingenious ways used in difficult conditions.
Gupta has been always innovative, from being an architect to creating smart systems like mchek — a mobile payment platform to the GO Mumbai smart card. He said, “The Tiny Branch is one of our most important creations and I had to let go of others in order to concentrate on this.”
Although Rs 15,000 might be low-cost, Gupta is far from being satisfied. He has brought down the cost of the system, he also hopes to install 250,000 of these Tiny Branch’s across Indian villages.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
SBI takes over the possession of the mortgaged property on loan defaulter
The Administrative Office of State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender located in Civil Lines, Ludhiana has taken over the possession of the property mortgaged in account of Sandali Darwaja Resorts and Restaurants Pvt Ltd. (erstwhile NIF Pipes) having its office at 853, Industrial Area -A, Ludhiana) through Bhagat Singh residing at 510-R, Model Town, Ludhiana.
SBI had given loan against the property which was mortgaged with it through Bhagat Singh. But the borrower defaulted in the repayment of loan amount which amounted to Rs 1,41,32,073 as on November 30, 2009.
The bank before taking this extreme step served 60-day notice to the borrower but the party did not came forward. Bank carried out the process with the assistance of GATS Financial Reconstructions Limited. GATS Financial Reconstructors Limited while revealing this in press release said, “The party had availed of certain credit facilities from the bank and had defaulted in the repayment of the bank dues to the tune of Rs 1,41,32,073 as on November 30, 2009.
The bank had served a 60-day notice to the borrower but the party never came forward. Hence the bank took the possession of the property mortgaged in the aforesaid account.”
SBI had given loan against the property which was mortgaged with it through Bhagat Singh. But the borrower defaulted in the repayment of loan amount which amounted to Rs 1,41,32,073 as on November 30, 2009.
The bank before taking this extreme step served 60-day notice to the borrower but the party did not came forward. Bank carried out the process with the assistance of GATS Financial Reconstructions Limited. GATS Financial Reconstructors Limited while revealing this in press release said, “The party had availed of certain credit facilities from the bank and had defaulted in the repayment of the bank dues to the tune of Rs 1,41,32,073 as on November 30, 2009.
The bank had served a 60-day notice to the borrower but the party never came forward. Hence the bank took the possession of the property mortgaged in the aforesaid account.”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
SBI becomes the largest lender of the country
State Bank of India has declared itself as the largest lender of the country. The bank has done the total business of over Rs 13, 78,000 crore for the financial year 2009. Up till now no other Indian bank has been able to even nearer this figure in terms of total business achieved by SBI during this period of time.
SBI is followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB). PNB has become the second largest bank of the country by replacing the largest private sector bank ICICI bank. PNB has done the total business of Rs 4, 35,000 crore for the fiscal in terms of total business with total deposits and loans.
On the other hand ICICI Bank has done a total business of Rs 3, 83,223 crore for the same fiscal year.
ICICI Bank total deposits stood at Rs 2, 02,017 crore while total advances were Rs 1, 81,206 crore. However PNB has managed to register a 20% increase in total business during the current fiscal.
The other public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank had also surpassed the Rs 4 lakh crore figures in total business.
SBI is followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB). PNB has become the second largest bank of the country by replacing the largest private sector bank ICICI bank. PNB has done the total business of Rs 4, 35,000 crore for the fiscal in terms of total business with total deposits and loans.
On the other hand ICICI Bank has done a total business of Rs 3, 83,223 crore for the same fiscal year.
ICICI Bank total deposits stood at Rs 2, 02,017 crore while total advances were Rs 1, 81,206 crore. However PNB has managed to register a 20% increase in total business during the current fiscal.
The other public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank had also surpassed the Rs 4 lakh crore figures in total business.
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