Aathira Varier &Amp; Ajinkya Kawale

Stories by Aathira Varier &Amp; Ajinkya Kawale

LIC earmarks Rs 600 crore for digital shift; to be 'paperless' in 2 years

LIC earmarks Rs 600 crore for digital shift; to be 'paperless' in 2 years

Rediff.com   19 Sep 2024

State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has committed Rs 600 crore for its digital transformation journey, Sunder Krishnan, chief risk officer said on Wednesday. The insurance giant is also aiming to become completely "paperless" in two years. "We have hired a large system integrator for more than Rs 400 crore, a consultant for digital transformation for Rs 100 crore, and Rs 100 crore for agency transformation.

Infosys to lay groundwork for LIC's digital transformation

Infosys to lay groundwork for LIC's digital transformation

Rediff.com   17 Sep 2024

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) announced on Monday that it had signed up tech giant Infosys to develop a next-generation digital platform that will act as the foundation for new high-value business applications, such as customer and sales super apps, portals, and digital branches. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed. The tie-up with Infosys is part of LIC's "long-drawn" strategy, said a senior executive of India's biggest insurer, who noted that the IT giant "won the bid to develop the next-generation platform through a request for proposal (RFP) process".

'Insurance should be bought for right reason'

'Insurance should be bought for right reason'

Rediff.com   8 Sep 2024

'We do not believe in fire sale. We don't do it.'

Mis-selling of life insurance policies at alarming level: Irdai

Mis-selling of life insurance policies at alarming level: Irdai

Rediff.com   4 Sep 2024

The alarming level of life insurance policy misselling has caught the attention of policymakers amid efforts by the insurance regulator to boost insurance penetration, a top official from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said on Tuesday. According to Satyajit Tripathy, member-distribution at Irdai, while life insurance grievances often relate to product issues, non-life insurance complaints typically concern claim payments and exclusions. Addressing these grievances is essential to increasing insurance penetration, he said.

Flipkart-backed super.money aims to be among top five on UPI leaderboard

Flipkart-backed super.money aims to be among top five on UPI leaderboard

Rediff.com   27 Aug 2024

Flipkart-backed fintech firm super.money is aiming to be among the top five players on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) leaderboard by the end of this year, a senior company executive has said. The company, which rolled out its beta version in June this year, has processed about 10 million transactions till date. "We have a target of 100 million transactions for the end of the year.

Pvt insurers ceded ground in rural areas in FY24; Tier-II,-III saw growth

Pvt insurers ceded ground in rural areas in FY24; Tier-II,-III saw growth

Rediff.com   26 Aug 2024

The share of life insurance policies sold by top private insurers in the rural areas declined in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) compared to previous year. SBI Life, HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance -- the top three players from the private sector-- have seen the share of insurance policies sold in rural areas drop in FY24 as compared to the previous financial year. Max Life Insurance's share of rural policies recorded an increase in FY24.

Dahi Handi: Insurers Cover 90,000+ Govindas

Dahi Handi: Insurers Cover 90,000+ Govindas

Rediff.com   26 Aug 2024

'As on August 25, 94,753 Govindas have been insured.' 'This number is expected to rise further, as proposals for 5,000 to 8,000 Govindas are received daily.'

Banks report muted treasury book gains

Banks report muted treasury book gains

Rediff.com   7 Aug 2024

Banks reported muted treasury gains during April-June of FY25 (Q1FY25) following Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) revised norms on investment portfolio effective from April 1, 2024, despite softening of government bond yields. "Banks have reported muted treasury gains during Q1 of FY25 despite softening of yields across the curve. "The main reason was change in the investment valuation and classification guidelines by the RBI.

RBI releases draft rules on AePS to counter frauds on payments system

RBI releases draft rules on AePS to counter frauds on payments system

Rediff.com   1 Aug 2024

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday released draft guidelines for streamlining the onboarding and monitoring of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) operators to counter frauds perpetuated through the ecosystem. Banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are required to comply with these directions within three months from the date of issue of the guidelines.

Draft framework: RBI for more options to authenticate digital payments

Draft framework: RBI for more options to authenticate digital payments

Rediff.com   1 Aug 2024

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday issued a draft framework for alternative authentication mechanism for digital payments, wherein it has mandated that all digital payment transactions would have to be authenticated with an additional factor of authentication (AFA), except small value contactless card payments for up to Rs 5,000 at point of sale terminals, e-mandates for recurring transactions, and small value digital payments through offline mode, among others. Additionally, it has said that all digital payment transactions, other than card present transactions, have to ensure that one of the factors of authentication is dynamically created, i.e., the factor is generated after initiation of payment; is specific to the transaction; and cannot be reused.

WazirX Seeks FBI Help To Recover $230M

WazirX Seeks FBI Help To Recover $230M

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2024

WazirX lost about 45 per cent of its crypto assets to the security breach. People privy to the discussions say North Korea has been mentioned.

Net credit card additions down 48% to 2 mn in Q1

Net credit card additions down 48% to 2 mn in Q1

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2024

The net credit card additions in the banking sector nearly halved to 2 million in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY25) from the previous quarter due to seasonal and regulatory factors. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the net credit card additions during the April-June quarter of FY25 stood at 2 million, 48 per cent lower than 3.9 million in the December-March quarter of FY24.

WazirX Breach: 'Recovering Stolen Crypto Is Hard'

WazirX Breach: 'Recovering Stolen Crypto Is Hard'

Rediff.com   22 Jul 2024

'A lot of them are converted to other tokens, and since crypto is dealt with internationally, it can go to any exchange in any country.'

'Banks must be prepared for providing UPI credit'

'Banks must be prepared for providing UPI credit'

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2024

'A credit line on UPI is going to make banks think about credit fundamentally as they digitise the credit process entirely.'

WazirX Loses $234 Million In Security Breach

WazirX Loses $234 Million In Security Breach

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2024

The swindled amount is nearly half of WazirX's total assets.

Major credit card issuers go live on Bharat Bill Payment Systems platform

Major credit card issuers go live on Bharat Bill Payment Systems platform

Rediff.com   15 Jul 2024

Major credit issuers, including the largest - HDFC Bank - have integrated their systems with the Bharat Bill Payment Systems (BBPS) for receiving credit card repayments via third-party applications.

How Aditya Birla Health Insurance plans to achieve full year profitability by FY26

How Aditya Birla Health Insurance plans to achieve full year profitability by FY26

Rediff.com   12 Jul 2024

'We want to play the value game for our consumers, which is health and retail will grow faster for us than the group.'

New biz premium rises 23% in Q1

New biz premium rises 23% in Q1

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2024

Insurance companies reported nearly 23 per cent growth in first year premium in the first quarter of financial year 2024-25, when compared to the same period last year, with market leader LIC leading the charge with 28 per cent growth. According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the new business premium (NBP) increased by 22.91 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ~89,726.7 crore in Q1FY25 from ~73,004.87 crore in Q1 FY24, reflecting a robust demand for insurance policies in the country.

Deposits grew slower than loans

Deposits grew slower than loans

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2024

Most lenders that have reported their April-June business update posted slower growth in deposits sequentially as compared to the loan growth in the April-June quarter of 2024-25 (FY25). Current and savings account (CASA) deposits continue to face pressure. Private-sector lenders YES Bank, Bandhan Bank, and RBL Bank saw their deposit growth contract by 0.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent, and 2 per cent, respectively.

Zomato withdraws NBFC application, says no plans to pursue lending

Zomato withdraws NBFC application, says no plans to pursue lending

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2024

Food and grocery delivery major Zomato has pulled the plug on its plan to enter the lending business. Zomato Financial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zomato, has withdrawn its application for a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stating that the company does not have plans to pursue lending in the future. "There is no material impact on the revenue/operations of the company and this disclosure is being made voluntarily," the Gurgaon-based company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.