"We are open for further reduction in prime lending rate," Indian Banks Association Chairman Dalbir Singh said in New Delhi while addressing a seminar organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce.
'Just the amount of work which is there just to become more and more successful in banking. For this to happen you need to have leaders who understand technology.'
Unions said the revised wage structure should reflect the merger of dearness allowance.
The unions have also threatened to explore an indefinite strike option, if their demands were not addressed.
As ATMs hold huge amounts in cash and criminals use them to get to customers' cards and PIN data, electronic security is crucial
The Reserve Bank of India has said that banks are 'cornering' customer surplus by charging high fees on inter-bank ATM transactions in the name of recovering technology costs.
India CEOs of 12 banks form pressure group within IBA.
Banks have approached Reserve Bank of India with a proposal for allowing them to provide doorstep cash delivery services to individual customers.
It is Finance Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with leaders of public sector bank unions that averted the three-day bank strike proposed from March 28.
A section of the public sector banking employees will go on two-day all-India strike from Wednesday to protest against financial sector reforms and outsourcing of jobs.
Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) are planning to take legal action against YES Bank's move to recall a part of its loans to them.
The strike could have put customers to inconvenience, since banking services would have remained disrupted almost the entire next week, and for the government, as tax payments for 2006-07 have to be made by March 31.
In an effort to boost credit flow to the housing sector, public sector banks are going to finalise the new interest rate regime for home loans up to Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) on Thursday.
This is not a new or unknown problem, but every time it crops up, our policy-makers have tried to wish it away. In the present circumstances too, the government has stopgap arrangements. It is borrowing from the World Bank (that's window-dressing fiscal deficit), says Ajit Ranade.
Public sector banks on Monday announced that home loans up to Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) would be given at a maximum interest rate of 8.5 per cent, while those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh (Rs 500,000 and Rs 2 million) would be offered at 9.25 per cent.
Banks in India will need about $100 billion (Rs 5 lakh crore) of capital over the next decade as the system grows to meet credit requirements of an expanding economy, Om Prakash Bhatt, chairman of the State Bank of India said.
The free run at automated teller machines might end soon, with banks petitioning the Reserve Bank of India to put curbs on cash withdrawals at third-party ATMs. Representatives from the Indian Banks Association, who met central bank officials late last month to make a case, said RBI had accepted most of their suggestions and these are likely to come into effect soon.
Banks want the government to bear the cost of providing cover under the proposed credit guarantee scheme for distressed farmers.
The interchange fee -- paid by the card-issuing bank when a customer swipes at another bank's ATM, including at white-label ATMs -- may be raised to Rs 20 to Rs 23.
When AS-15 became operative in 2006, the initial estimate for additional pension provisioning was estimated at Rs 6,000 crore. However, the latest wage revision may bring in an additional 275,000 bank employees who opted for PF. Banks may also provide for the pension liabilities of 65,000 employees who have retired but have been seeking resort to the defined pension scheme since 1996. This will require additional provisioning of Rs 6,000 crore.
Among other demands, the unions are also seeking immediate introduction of five-day week in full and reduction of cash transaction hours and regulated working hours.
The banking industry could witness another round of prime lending rate hikes beginning next week, a top Indian Banks' Association official said on Wednesday.
The Indus system of rivers comprises the main river -- the Indus -- along with its five left bank tributaries, namely, the Ravi, the Beas, the Sutlej, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The right bank tributary, the Kabul, does not flow through India.
More than 200,000 bank officers began a one-day strike on Friday to demand a wage increase, a move unions said would halt banking operations.
Using ATMs beyond the permissible free transactions for cash as well as non-cash purposes will cost more from Saturday. As per the Reserve Bank directive issued in June, the banking customers would be required to pay Rs 21 per transaction with effect from January 1, 2022 for transactions beyond the free permissible limit. Presently, banks are allowed to charge Rs 20 for such transactions through ATMs.
Foreign investors continue to pull back money from the Indian equity market withdrawing a little over Rs 30,000 crore in the first fortnight of the month amid escalation in global trade tensions. This came following an outflow of Rs 34,574 crore from equities in February and Rs 78,027 crore in January.
Foreign banks operating in India want the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a vision document on policy changes they can expect after March 2009.
'I am not an aspiration-oriented politician.' 'This is the time to redefine politics.' 'Politics of power is not real politics.'
However, the likely impact of strike may not be much excluding few areas, said SBI.
The United Forum of Bank Employees Unions (UFBEU) representing about 9.5 lakh (950,000) bank employees across the country, has given a two-day nation-wide bank strike call on August 6 and 7 in support of their expedite settlement of wage revision demands.
Interest subsidy to cost Rs 200 cr for the government.
The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on Friday asked Reserve Bank to allow home-grown banks to set up intermediate holding companies for raising capital for their insurance, asset management and allied businesses.
Acknowledging that the credit delivery system is not functioning as expected, RBI has constituted two committees as directed by the ministry.
Over 8.5 lakh employees, majorly from public sector banks (PSBs), will get a 15 per cent hike in pay, with the conclusion of the 11th Bipartite Wage Negotiations on Wednesday. After three years of intense negotiations, the UFBU, which represents four bank officer associations and five workman unions, and the IBA on July 22 entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for an annual wage hike of 15 per cent.
Thousands of public sector bank employees across the country now have reason to rejoice.
