There is a need for real-time or near real-time credit reporting, instead of the current fortnightly system, to improve underwriting precision, enable timely reflection of borrower actions such as loan closures or repayments, and deliver a superior consumer experience, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), M Rajeshwar Rao said on Wednesday.
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
This marks a 67% increase from the Rs 2,537 crore lost in scams in 2022-2023.
The overall number of frauds, including those related to loan accounts and digital payments, jumped by three times in FY25, primarily due to reclassification of 122 cases as per a Supreme Court order, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday. The fraud value jumped to Rs 36,014 crore in FY25, up from Rs 12,230 crore in the previous fiscal year, while the number of fraud cases went down to 23,953 in FY25 from 36,060 in FY24.
Concerned over the rise in mis-selling of products by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is examining whether to come up with norms to curb such practices. Observing that pushing financial products, such as insurance, indiscriminately to unaware consumers may be detrimental to their well-being, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao said, "We are examining whether it necessitates framing of guidelines to address mis-selling of financial products and services by REs (regulated entities)."
Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday cleared Bajaj Group's proposed acquisition of a 26 per cent stake each in its insurance joint ventures, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, from its partner Allianz SE for a total of Rs 24,180 crore. "The proposed combination involves acquisition of 26 per cent paid-up equity share capital of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd (BALIC) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd (BAGIC) by Bajaj Finserv Ltd (BFS), Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd (BHIL) and Jamnalal Sons Pvt Ltd (JSPL) from Allianz SE," the regulator said in a release.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
'When you have the best market at your doorstep, international diversification is a distraction.'
Non-banking entities such as fintech firms will have to tap into use cases beyond peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions to scale up the presence of the retail version of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is also known as the e, said industry players. These use cases will enable programmable transactions across domains, including the government's direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes, with subsidies restricted to specific purposes such as food coupons, hospital bills, fertilisers, pesticides, and cross-border remittances.
'LAP is suited for borrowers with a steady income, sound repayment discipline, and a clear repayment plan.'
Despite sharp interest rate cuts expected in this financial year amid easy liquidity conditions, state-run banks are treading cautiously on their loan growth projections for FY26. Most large banks are projecting loan growth at 11-13 per cent, almost similar to the previous financial year.
By choosing your study destination carefully, leveraging government schemes, comparing loan options, and adopting frugal living practices, Indian students can acquire global credentials without mortgaging their futures.
Securitisation - sale of loans to investors - by lenders, including banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), crossed Rs 50,000 crore during the fourth quarter ended March 2025 (Q4F25). This is a tad higher than Rs 48,000 crore during the same period of FY24.
The Indian economy could remain less affected by global trade wars than other countries because the two engines of domestic growth - consumption and investment - are likely to face a limited impact from such headwinds, according to an article on the 'State of the Economy' in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) bulletin, released on Tuesday.
Dividends paid by central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) in 2024-25 are set to be the highest ever, with the government receiving 69,873 crore so far. A government official said he was hopeful the receipts would touch 70,000 crore in the last week of the financial year.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Swaminathan J criticised some non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for lax loan appraisal practices and charging excessive interest rates, even as he acknowledged the sector's rapid expansion over the past decade, especially in recent years. "Unfortunately, some NBFCs seem to believe they can operate with weak underwriting in the pursuit of fast growth while levying excessive and unsustainable interest rates - sometimes disguised as upfront or processing fees - followed by aggressive recovery methods in case of default," Swaminathan said at the conference of NBFCs in Chennai last month.
P K Mishra, a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as the principal secretary to the prime minister.
'This helps the consumers secure more favourable terms from CIs.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent, marking the first reduction in five years. The central bank also projected GDP growth for fiscal year 2026 at 6.7 percent and inflation to come down to 4.2 percent in FY26 from 4.8 percent in FY25. The RBI said the global economic backdrop remains challenging but the Indian economy continues to remain strong and resilient.
For non-banks, the IL&FS crisis was nothing short of India's Lehman moment, which has for a foreseeable future reset the sector on multiple grounds.
In 2023-2024, 95 scheduled commercial banks received over 10 million complaints from their customers. The process of KYC at many banks has become 'HYC' -- harass your customer, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banking credit in the economy grew by 11.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the fortnight ended March 7, while deposits grew at 10.2 per cent during the same period, which is a gap of around 90 basis points (bps), according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
'Choose an FD tenure that provides a balance between returns and the horizon for which you can invest.'
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) draft guidelines on gold loans, if implemented in their current form, are expected to impact non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and mid-tier banks in the near term, more significantly than larger banks, according to analysts.
Brokerages expect a further slowdown in Indian firms' revenue and earnings growth in Q4FY25, following low single-digit growth in the preceding three quarters, as factors like weak consumer demand and credit growth linger on.
Jio Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Financial Services, is likely to delay its maiden bond issue of Rs 3,000 crore, originally scheduled for this month. The decision comes amid expectations of softening yields in April because the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy committee (MPC) is widely expected to cut the policy repo rate by another 25 basis points, sources said.
Net profit of 19 listed banks is likely to decline by 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for the quarter ended March (Q4FY25) mainly due to pressure on net interest margins (NIM) as a result of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to analysts' estimates. Additionally, loan growth is expected to further slowdown amid low demand in certain secured products, stress in the unsecured segment, and a high cost to deposit (CD) ratio across the system.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said action will be taken in case there are violations of well laid down processes for auctioning of gold by banks and NBFCs when a borrower fails to pay the gold loan. During Question Hour in Lok Sabha, she said Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) are guided by similar rules.
The government is looking to give Bharat Global Ports a certain amount of domestic exposure after it set up the state-owned consortium to increase India's global maritime heft, officials aware of the development said. The intended domestic exposure is meant to give the consortium experience and build its credentials for international projects.
The gold loan portfolio of banks continued to show strong off-take with 76 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in January 2025 amid moderation in retail credit - especially in the unsecured credit segment - following increase in risk weights in November 2023. The gold loan pool had grown 17.4 per cent Y-o-Y in January 2024.
'We never waste a crisis. There will be learning and the supervisory tools will get better with each episode.'
Facing criticism from the government over the central bank prioritising inflation over growth, the new RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Monday said that prospects of the Indian economy are expected to improve on the back of high consumer and business confidence in 2025. "As we strive to preserve financial stability to support a higher growth path for the Indian economy, our focus remains steadfast on maintaining stability of financial institutions and, more broadly, systemic stability," Malhotra said in foreword to the Financial Stability Report.
A lower risk appetite among investors has driven gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, to record highs so far this year. Fuelled by geopolitical tensions in West Asia, robust demand from central banks - particularly in Asia - and US President Donald Trump's tariff volleys, spot gold touched an all-time high of $2,956 per ounce on February 24 in the international markets.
A trends study conducted by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has expressed suspicion that cryptocurrency is being used across the country in serious criminal acts like terrorist financing, fuelling secessionist activities, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, illegal betting and gambling. The report, which was based on suspicious transaction reports and operational analysis, shared these trends and credible intelligence with law enforcement agencies.
'In this age of competition, we will not survive long if we do not provide quality service to our consumers'
'Even if India is attractive, FPIs currently lack the funds to invest, as money is being redirected to the US.'
Since Sanjay Malhotra took office as governor in December, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has adopted a more accommodative stance, which bodes well for banking and the economy as they navigate a growth slowdown, according to analysts.
'Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics.'
Towards the end of February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restored the risk weighting on banks loans to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs; including to microfinance institutions, or MFIs) to 100 - back to its November 2023 position - from 125. It is only a partial relief though. "Higher risk weighting on unsecured lending continues to be in place while the same on bank funding to NBFCs has been done away with. "This is a positive step by RBI," says Rajiv Sabharwal, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Tata Capital.
Corporate India's struggle with subdued revenue and earnings growth persisted in the October-December quarter of 2024-25 (Q3FY25). The combined net sales (gross interest earnings for lenders) of listed companies grew in single digits for the seventh consecutive quarter, while their combined net profit rose by a single digit for the third straight quarter.
