Ban On Import Of Rubber Hits User Industry

Internet banking is perhaps still in its infancy here in India but the next steps may already be under way. Two specialised sites devoted to banking and finance have been launched or are due to be launched by the end of this week. Are these sites the precursor of something bigger to come _ perhaps a full-fledged portal or gateway site offering a range of financial services from insurance policies, car loans and credit cards to mutual fund units?

There is also another version of what could be a future trend. HDFC bank is to launch its HDFC Bank Shop by the beginning of next year. And it signifies another possible scenario as to where banks are headed. And last but not the least, ICICI bank has tied up with Satyam Infoway to launch a company which would sell retail banking products on the Internet.

The motivations of both Milan Sangani and Anurag Khanna in setting up their banking-specific sites were similar. Milan Sangani is managing director of Credit Resources India limited, the company which runs and manages financeinsights.com. Anurag Khanna is president of banknetindia.com.

"All the India-specific portal sites currently up and running on the Net are focused more on the equity market," says Khanna. "They provide stock tips to investors and give information mainly about the equity market."

Sangani concurs, "Most other sites focus on equity and giving stock tips to consumers. We wanted to provide a wider choice of personal finance products as well, like mutual funds, and retail loans."

But there are differences between the two sites. While financeinsights.com is purely a personal finance site, banknetindia.com has a broader focus. It provides information on a range of banking issues from the current structure of the banking industry in India, jobs available in the banking sector, a special section on information of interest to non-resident Indians (NRIs), as well as basic information on fixed deposits, current and othe