All stories by Subrata Panda
HDFC Bank readies plan to tackle frequent outages
Rediff.com8 hours agoThe bank has decided to embark on a 'Technology Transformation agenda' to provide its customers smoother, faster, and better banking experience.
The 2nd wave: Insurers brace for rise in Covid-19 policy claims
Rediff.com23 hours agoThe unprecedented rise in Covid-19 infections in the country, which many are terming as the second wave, has also resulted in a rise in Covid-related claims for general and health insurance companies as hospitalisations have gone up. The insurers have received more than a million Covid-related claims as of April, 2021. According to the data compiled by General Insurance Council, the reported claims total 1.014 million, amounting to more than Rs 14,800 crore.
You will soon be able to withdraw cash from digital wallets
Rediff.com8 Apr 2021The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday proposed to make interoperability mandatory for digital payments firms. It also allowed users to withdraw cash from e-wallets and fintech companies to process RTGS and NEFT transactions. The RBI expressed dissatisfaction over prepaid payment instruments' (PPIs') failure to migrate towards full-KYC (know your customer) PPIs, and therefore interoperability, even two years after guidelines were issued.
Life insurers shell out crores as Covid-19 death claims
Rediff.com29 Mar 2021As of March 25, life insurers have paid Rs 1,986 crore towards 25,500 Covid death claims
'You never exit a portfolio'
Rediff.com23 Mar 2021'We will be looking to prune our portfolio to make GIC Re a healthier entity.'
NUE: 6 in fray for digital payments licence
Rediff.com10 Mar 2021The race to get a New Umbrella Entity (NUE) licence for digital payments may get crowded. As many as six consortiums are said to be in the fray to apply for an NUE licence, which would create a for-profit National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)-like body for retail payments. A consortium led by Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a leading provider of payment products and payment processor, is in talks and may file an application to the RBI for an NUE license, said sources aware of the development. The other constituents of this group include Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, India Post Payments Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and a few small finance banks.
Irdai launches standard personal accident cover
Rediff.com26 Feb 2021The product, named Saral Suraksha Bima, will have a maximum sum assured of Rs 1 crore and minimum Rs 2.5 lakh.
Unwinding high indirect taxes on fuel is critical for economy: RBI's Das
Rediff.com23 Feb 2021With inflation under control, the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) job is to support growth because the economy had recovered well from the lows in the initial months of the pandemic, according to the panel's members, who met in the first week of this month. The minutes of the meeting show the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor in his statement said: "Given the sharp moderation in inflation along with a stable near-term outlook, monetary policy needs to continue with the accommodative stance to ensure that the recovery gains greater traction and becomes broad-based." Ashima Goyal, external member of the MPC, said: "The current macroeconomic configuration and its expected future evolution imply there is space for the MPC to continue to support the revival of the economy with inflation remaining in the target band."
UPI Jan volume up 77% to 2.3 bn year-on-year, value doubles to Rs 4.3 trn
Rediff.com4 Feb 2021While it took UPI three years to reach a billion transactions in a month, the next billion came in just a year. Digital payments, especially UPI, saw increased adoption in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
PhonePe beats Google Pay, tops UPI app space in December
Rediff.com19 Jan 2021These top two apps account for more than 78 per cent of the UPI market in terms of volume of transaction, and 86 per cent of the market by value of transactions in December.
Growth in health insurance segment slows as fear of Covid-19 subsides
Rediff.com13 Jan 2021Irdai had introduced two Covid specific products in the market - Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak - that saw huge acceptance among the consumers as these products had lower premiums.
UPI breached 2 billion transactions 3 months in a row
Rediff.com12 Jan 2021Surge in UPI transactions is because of an increased consumer interest in making bill payments and recharging mobile phones online, and purchase of non-essential goods on e-commerce platforms.
Soon you can buy insurance at petrol pumps, gas agencies
Rediff.com9 Jan 2021This will help expand the distribution channels, said Subhash Chandra Khuntia, chairman of the insurance regulatory and development authority of India.
4 show interest in PMC's EoI; curbs to stay till March
Rediff.com21 Dec 2020In its EoI document, the bank had said it was open to converting into a small finance bank.
Now, RuPay cards will work offline too!
Rediff.com19 Dec 2020RuPay National Common Mobility Card's offline wallet can be used to make ticket payments in transit, including in metros, cabs, etc, enabling automatic, quick, cashless payments.
Bad loans set to rise in 2nd half of FY21: Axis
Rediff.com18 Dec 2020While the stress is lower than projections, it would be higher than what we saw last year because of the pandemic: Axis.
Insurers face Covid claims of Rs 10,000 cr so far
Rediff.com12 Dec 2020According to the data compiled by General Insurance Council, which is not publicly available, the insurers have settled 508,334 claims amounting to over Rs 4,800 crore.
LIC has invested Rs 55,000 cr in equity market
Rediff.com9 Dec 2020'In FY21, as of October, LIC has booked a profit of Rs 18,800 crore through sale of equities.'
RBI allows all NBFCs to co-lend with banks
Rediff.com6 Nov 2020Under the co-lending model, banks have to take their share of the individual loans on a back-to-back basis on their books while NBFCs are required to retain a minimum of 20 per cent share of the individual loans on their books.
Covid insurance claims reach a whopping 475,000
Rediff.com4 Nov 2020To add to the worry of the insurers, non-Covid claims, which were muted in the initial months of the pandemic, have also picked up pace and are more or less at pre-Covid levels.