Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
Is the worst over for Indian banks? The past two years saw them ride on treasury trades as deposits soared and credit growth dipped sharply. Gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) moved south, and the provision coverage ratio (PCR), capital buffers, and profitability indicators are back at pre-pandemic levels. So, what's the plot ahead?
Infrastructure bond issuances by commercial banks in the current financial year (FY25) are likely to surpass Rs 1 trillion, almost double that of FY24, market participants said. So far this financial year, banks have raised Rs 74,256 crore via infra bonds. In FY24, the total issuances stood at around Rs 51,081 crore.
Stock Market News today, PSU banks: The year 2024 was a roller-coaster ride for Indian stock markets, marked by volatility driven by the Lok Sabha elections, Union Budget 2024, a slowdown in corporate earnings, and sticky inflation. Geopolitical tensions - particularly between Israel and Iran in West Asia - along with various stimulus announcements by China and yen carry trade rocked the equity markets throughout the year.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have proposed the Finance Ministry their plan to raise Rs 54,800 crore through Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) and Tier-2 bonds in the current financial year (FY25), 37 per cent more than the Rs 39,880 crore raised in FY24
Private sector banks in India are taking the lead in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in areas like fraud detection, customer segmentation, and chat automation, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) study. The asset size and capital adequacy ratio are influencing the rate of adoption.
It said banks' asset quality will deteriorate across the corporate, small and medium enterprises and retail segments, leading to pressure on profitability and capital.
Tech giant Apple has stopped accepting payments via debit and credit cards in India. Apple has stopped accepting cards for subscriptions, and purchases using credit cards issued by banks in India. Apple will also not accept payments for ad campaigns on Apple Search using credit cards issued by Indian banks. All campaigns will be put on hold from June 1.
A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) returned to the High Court in London for a bankruptcy application hearing against liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, as they pursue the recovery of debt from loans paid out to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. At a virtual hearing before Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs on Friday, both sides deposed retired Indian Supreme Court justices as expert witnesses on Indian law in support of their arguments for and against a bankruptcy order against Mallya in the UK. While the banks argued a right to waive their security over the Indian assets involved in the case in order to recover their debt in the UK, lawyers for the 65-year-old businessman argued that the funds in question involved public money held by state-owned banks in India which precluded them from such a security waiver.
It said two of the key accused were Islamic State of Iraq and Syria radicals, who used fraudulently obtained "Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts" besides "various Indian and Bangladeshi Identity documents downloaded from the dark web (which is accessible only through specialised browsers) in carrying out their nefarious activities.
Banks say they themselves red-flagged the transactions to RBI. It must be noted that these transactions are not outright evidence of fraud or proof of nefarious activities.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday said systemic risk in Indian banks is likely to remain high in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 and high proportion of weak loans. S&P estimates the weak loans in banks at 11-12 per cent of gross loans.
Indian banks have started exploring opportunities in the space, including lending to crypto exchanges, and accepting bitcoins as collateral, among others.
State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest lender, is looking to raise Rs 10,000 crore through 15-year infrastructure bonds as early as next week, said multiple sources aware of the development. Market participants expect a coupon in the range of 7.15-7.18 per cent for SBI's upcoming infrastructure bond issuance. This comes as demand for longer-tenor papers has remained strong in recent domestic capital market offerings.
Banks recorded a higher growth year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in raising deposits during the second quarter of financial year 2025 (Q2FY25) compared to Q1FY25, owing to intensified efforts to raise liabilities by offering higher rates and innovative schemes.
In a relief to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the high court in London has deferred hearings on a plea by the SBI-led consortium of Indian banks, seeking the indebted tycoon to be declared bankrupt to enable them recover a loan of around 1.145 billion pounds from him. Justice Michael Briggs of the insolvency division of the high court granted relief to Mallya, ruling that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka high court be determined, allowing him time to repay his debts to the banks in full.
Move comes after the country's monetary authority tightened credit norms
At a hearing before Master David Cook at the Queen's Bench Division of the court, Mallya's legal team sought a dismissal of the interim order.
Eying benefits from digital banking, lenders are now looking at building Unified Recovery Interface (URI) for enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and getting good prices for properties of defaulters. This would be managed by PSB Alliance Ltd, a company set up by all public sector banks in the country. M V Rao, chairman, Indian Banks' Association (IBA), said: "Till now we had Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a product developed by National Payments Corporation Ltd (NPCI).
Mohammedan Sporting scraped past Indian Bank 1-0 after a 73rd minute penalty from Dipendu Biswas in the eighth National Football League.
In a bid to gain a bigger share of the customer's wallet, banks are ramping up their cross-selling initiatives.
State-owned Indian Bank on Thursday said it has suspended an official who is accused of wrong doings by an online portal in an expose.
A 2-1 victory gave the Chennai side their first victory in 17 matches in the Nationa.l Football League
A consortium of Indian public sector banks led by SBI sought a bankruptcy order against embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya during a high court hearing in London on Wednesday as part of efforts to recoup around 1.145 billion pounds in unpaid loans. Mallya's legal team, led by barrister Philip Marshall, argued for the bankruptcy petition to be dismissed because their client was being unfairly pursued by the banks in India and the UK on opposing grounds.
'On the evening of the 17th, the RBI said the bank was put on moratorium.' 'Within an hour, the RBI said it would be merged with DBS.' 'How did DBS come to know within an hour that LVB was in trouble?' 'It means, what happened was match-fixing.'
The most preferred CoCo bonds are those through which banks raise their additional Tier-I capital.
Public sector banks require Rs 2.40-lakh crore.
A 5-1 victory gave the Goa side their biggest win in the National Football League.
Global rating agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday said Indian banks were financially stronger than Chinese banks although some of the China-based banks have higher credit ratings.
Partha Pratim Sengupta, who will be taking charge as the MD & CEO of Bandhan Bank in early November, has his task cut out. The Kolkata-based lender, which converted itself from a microfinance institution to a universal bank, is in its 10th year of operation. The bank was able to cut down the share of the micro loan book over these years.
Besides being reasonably valued, the Indian Bank IPO has many triggers.
Bad loans are turning nightmarish for Indian banks.
With concern on food inflation ebbing with the monsoon progressing well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is warming up to the idea of a change in stance to "neutral" from "withdrawal of accommodation", according to economists. In his speech on Thursday during the annual event of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Indian Banks' Association, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said: "The balance between inflation and growth is well-poised."
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.
Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook for the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of a number of Indian banks -- currently rated Ba2 -- from 'negative' to 'stable' for India.
A three-member delegation of the Indian Banks' Association met senior executives of the US Federal Reserve and New York Banking Department to explore the prospects for increased presence of Indian banks in the United States.
