Subrata Panda And Manojit Saha

Stories by Subrata Panda And Manojit Saha

June credit card spends remain above Rs 1 trn

June credit card spends remain above Rs 1 trn

Rediff.com   3 Aug 2022

Credit card spends in June, although down marginally month-on-month (MoM), remained above the Rs 1-trillion mark for the fourth consecutive month. In June, credit card spends topped Rs 1.09 trillion, down 4.34 per cent MoM, revealed the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, on a year-on-year basis, spends were up 73 per cent. In May, credit card spends hit an all-time high, reaching Rs 1.14 trillion.

July records 6 billion UPI transactions, highest ever

July records 6 billion UPI transactions, highest ever

Rediff.com   2 Aug 2022

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) clocked over 6 billion transactions in July: the highest ever by India's flagship digital payments platform since its inception in 2016. UPI reported 6.28 billion transactions amounting to Rs 10.62 trillion, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the platform. Month-on-month, the volume of transactions was up 7.16 per cent and value increased 4.76 per cent.

Card data storage: RBI relaxes rules for checkout on guest transactions

Card data storage: RBI relaxes rules for checkout on guest transactions

Rediff.com   29 Jul 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed card-on-file data storage norms pertaining to guest transactions checkout, whereby now, apart from the card issuer and the card network, the merchant or its payment aggregator involved in the settlement of the transactions can save the data for a maximum of T+4 days or till the settlement date, whichever is earlier. And, acquiring banks have been permitted to store the card-on-file data until January 2023 for handing other post-transactions activities. The industry reached out to the RBI on the issue and sought a solution.

How HDFC Bank lost Rs 50k-cr corporate loans

How HDFC Bank lost Rs 50k-cr corporate loans

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2022

HDFC Bank, the country's largest private-sector lender, lost to competition wholesale loans of around Rs 50,000 crore after it increased interest rates in May, said Chief Financial Officer Srinivasan Vaidyanathan in an analyst call. "There were some customers who were offered lower rates by other market participants. "But we decided not to cut back on our rates," he said while addressing analysts after the announcement of the bank's Q1 earnings.

Major PSU banks to go live on account aggregator system by July-end

Major PSU banks to go live on account aggregator system by July-end

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2022

After the finance minister directed public sector banks to join the account aggregator (AA) ecosystem, 5-6 major ones, including State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda are expected to go live by July-end. Sahmati, an industry alliance for the AA ecosystem, has been working with PSU banks to get them onboarded for quite some time now. So far, Union Bank of India and Punjab National Bank (PNB) have gone live on the AA ecosystem. While Union Bank has been live for a while, PNB went live earlier this month.

'LIC's investment decisions won't change'

'LIC's investment decisions won't change'

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2022

'We try to pick up stocks early and hold onto them for the long term.' 'We are not someone who buys and sells on a daily basis.'

Weakening Rupee And Student Loans: What You Need To Know

Weakening Rupee And Student Loans: What You Need To Know

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2022

The depreciation in rupee may pose a problem for students who have taken loans from Indian lenders.

'No Challenge To SBI's Retail Loan Book'

'No Challenge To SBI's Retail Loan Book'

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2022

'When we look at the quality of our retail loan book, the non-performing asset percentage is low.'

How credit card route to UPI may come at a price for merchants

How credit card route to UPI may come at a price for merchants

Rediff.com   20 Jun 2022

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) recent decision to allow credit cards for payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is likely to attract a merchant discount rate (MDR), said a top payment industry source. For smaller merchants, a subsidy for MDR could be provided. "With credit card-UPI linkage, UPI will not only be a payment instrument but also a lending platform. "How can banks lend without a commercial model? Also, the government has said MDR will be zero for payment products but not for lending products," the source said, indicating the MDR regime for credit card-linked UPI payments.

Loans to get more expensive as banks hike lending rates

Loans to get more expensive as banks hike lending rates

Rediff.com   10 Jun 2022

A day after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee hiked the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps), several commercial banks, including ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda, raised their external benchmark-linked loan rates by an equal amount on Thursday. HDFC, the country's largest mortgage lender, too, increased its interest rates on housing loans by another 50 bps. In total, it has raised rates by 85 bps since May 4, when the RBI had increased the repo rate by 40 bps in an off-cycle meeting.

Excess liquidity in banking system back to pre-Covid levels

Excess liquidity in banking system back to pre-Covid levels

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2022

Concerned over inflationary pressures in the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is bringing down surplus liquidity in the system rapidly. It has fallen to pre-Covid levels and almost 2 per cent of banks' net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). NDTL shows the difference between the sum of demand and time liabilities (deposits) of a bank (with the public or the other bank) and the deposits in the form of assets held by the other bank.

The curious case of $1-billion SBI loan to debt ridden-Sri Lanka

The curious case of $1-billion SBI loan to debt ridden-Sri Lanka

Rediff.com   31 May 2022

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 17 had announced that State Bank of India (SBI) would extend a term loan of $1 billion to Sri Lanka, fully guaranteed by the Indian government, and this was part of India's financial aid to the troubled island nation. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was quoted saying by news agency PTI that the loan would be used for importing food, medicines, and other essential items. "India has always stood with the people of Sri Lanka and we will continue to extend all possible support at this juncture.

MPC members argued for front-loading rate hikes in view of inflation

MPC members argued for front-loading rate hikes in view of inflation

Rediff.com   26 May 2022

Most members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) argued for front-loading interest rate hikes in view of rapidly rising inflation during the off-cycle monetary policy review earlier this month - the minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday showed. In early May, the rate setting committee met unscheduled and unanimously decided to hike the repo rate by 40 bps. This was the first repo rate hike in four years, and an inter-meeting hike in more than a decade.

Credit card spend jumps 48% to top Rs 1 trillion in March

Credit card spend jumps 48% to top Rs 1 trillion in March

Rediff.com   24 May 2022

Spending through the credit card in March 2022 jumped 48 per cent year-on-year to top Rs 1 trillion -- five months after it had hit the same figure for the first time in October 2021, buoyed by festive season expenditure. The jump has been driven by the pickup in consumption as the pandemic recedes. Expenditure in March, at Rs 1.07 trillion, was up 24.5 per cent over February, the data put out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

Apple to stop storing card information on file for Indian customers

Apple to stop storing card information on file for Indian customers

Rediff.com   20 May 2022

Technology giant Apple has informed its customers in India that it will no longer store their card information on file and will not be accepting payments made by debit cards and credit cards for purchases or subscriptions on the App store or other Apple services. The decision has been taken by the US-based company in view of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) card data storage guidelines, which will kick in from July 1. The deadline for implementing these norms was extended twice.

Prices of food items continue to rise in May, says RBI report

Prices of food items continue to rise in May, says RBI report

Rediff.com   18 May 2022

Prices of food items like cereals, pulses, and edible oils rose or remained steady in May, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report said, indicating there could be another higher inflation print. However, it observed that the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) surprise move to increase interest rates bodes well for its credibility. The RBI's monthly State of the Economy report, released on Tuesday, citing high frequency food price data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for the period May 1-12, said the increase in the prices of cereals was primarily because of the surge in wheat prices.

'How Long Should I Wait For An IPO?'

'How Long Should I Wait For An IPO?'

Rediff.com   28 Apr 2022

'Had there been no war, maybe, we would come out with a 7.5 per cent stake sale.' 'At this point in time, a 3.5 per cent stake sale looked good.'

HDFC Bank shifts tack to focus on wholesale loans

HDFC Bank shifts tack to focus on wholesale loans

Rediff.com   27 Apr 2022

Defying trends, the country's largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, has shifted its asset mix significantly towards high-rated segments. As a result, its wholesale-to-retail mix has tilted heavily in favour of wholesale, even at the cost of margins. Further, it is even looking to ramp up its branch network, with an aim to service clients within a 1-2 km radius rather than the current 5-6 km radius.

Light at the end of the tunnel for PMC depositors?

Light at the end of the tunnel for PMC depositors?

Rediff.com   26 Apr 2022

'The money is readily available to the depositors.'

Fall in HDFC-HDFC Bank share prices is short term: Keki Mistry

Fall in HDFC-HDFC Bank share prices is short term: Keki Mistry

Rediff.com   23 Apr 2022

We have not been able to communicate in a very articulate manner and clear manner on the merger as earnings were due, says HDFC CEO.