It is not often that you find a mechanical engineer leading the private banking business of a foreign bank in India.
Credit cards appear to have found favour with public sector banks, which had, so far, been reluctant in expanding their unsecured loan portfolios aggressively.
Lenders also allow customers to conduct other businesses from such chambers
ICICI Bank, the largest private sector lender in the country, is offering an 'instant account number' if you apply for a savings deposit account through its website.
SBI Cards, like most other credit card issuers in the country, suffered losses during the financial crisis of 2008-09 due to sharp increase in delinquencies. The company, a joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital, turned profitable in 2010-11. Kadambi Narahari, chief executive officer, shares the strategy to grow the company's cards business in coming years.
Indian billionaire Shiv Nadar's foray into the insurance sector is likely to fructify soon. DLF Pramerica Life, seeking an Indian partner for its operation, is in talks with Nadar's HCL Group to sell a majority stake. According to those in the know, both parties are back on the table to iron out the nitty-gritty, after the deal got stuck a year back due to stringent guidelines.
Facing huge redemption pressure on funds raised via foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), India Inc has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow companies to offer higher interest rates on fresh foreign currency loans or bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to pre-pay existing FCCBs.
The appetite for Indian assets is growing among investors from the land of the samurai. An appreciating yen, combined with slow economic growth, has persuaded many Japanese investors to explore opportunities beyond their national boundary, and India appears to be one of their preferences.
ICICI works on similar lines; alternative to Business Correspondents to reach financial inclusion targets.
Donald D'Souza, the new head of HDFC Bank's equity capital markets business, prefers to keep himself fit by playing badminton.
The lender's comfortable liquidity position, combined with downward bias in interest rates and slow credit growth expectations in the first three months of this financial year, has allowed it to take this decision.
The deal is stuck because the Reserve Bank of India has declined to transfer the branch licences of RBS to HSBC.
The life insurance arm of the country's largest private-sector lender does it not to expand workforce, but to maintain its strength, as almost a similar number of staffers keeps leaving every month.
For instance, a pack of 20 Classic branded cigarettes (from ITC) now costs Rs 120.
In absolute terms, close to 9.2 million customers (almost equal to Mumbai's suburban population) have defaulted on loan repayment. Microfinance institutions currently have around 32 million clients in the country.
Before joining IndusInd Bank, he was the regional head of RBS' corporate solutions business in Asia Pacific region and was based in Singapore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired the non-performing portfolio of Barclays Bank's credit card business in India. The deal, experts said, gives momentum to the sale of stressed loan market in the country which has been having a dry run following stringent regulatory norms introduced in 2007.
Bankers and industry analysts say a number of public and private sector banks have expressed willingness to offer fresh loans to Indian companies to help them repay their overseas dues maturing in the near term.
Barclays Finance, the non-banking finance arm of Barclays Corporate in India, plans to close the majority of its branches here, as part of the lender's plan to scale down retail operations in the country.
Bank will charge floating rates of interest from January.
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