Nearly half of credit and debit cards in India were inactive, possibly due to insufficient resources in bank accounts and a holding of more than one card, a study has said.

Half of credit, debit cards in India inactive

Press Trust of India

Faced with battered fortunes, irate shareholders of Bank of America (BofA) voted to oust the banking major's Chairman Kenneth D Lewis, just hours after the annual meeting yesterday.

Shareholders strip Kenneth Lewis of BofA chairmanship

Kolkata-based United Bank of India (UBI) is expected to transfer Rs 1,156 crore of equity to its reserve account by March 31, 2009 as part of its capital restructuring plan.

United Bank to transfer Rs 1,156 cr by Mar-end

Business Standard

The US government&rsquo;s third attempt to help rescue Citigroup won&rsquo;t stanch the company&rsquo;s losses, which will continue to swell and may lead the bank to require more money in the coming months, analysts said.

Citigroup&#39;s third US rescue may not be its last, say analysts

A day after the Reserve Bank of India prodded banks to cut interest rates, two public sector banks have responded. While Union Bank reduced home and car loan rates, Punjab National Bank cut car loan rate.

Day after RBI's nudge, two banks cut rates

An Industry body has sought Reserve Bank's intervention to make banks offer loans to small and medium enterprises (SME) at eight per cent to tide over the economic downturn.

Banks need to cut lending rates on SME loans: AIAI

With the financial meltdown continuing unabated, the US has already seen the collapse of 16 banks in the last two months -- which is more than one-fourth the total number of failures in the last nine years.

16 US banks collapse in just two months

Europe's largest bank HSBC is likely to unveil a 17 billion pound provision against bad loans and a 12 billion pound rights issue alongside its annual results tomorrow, media reports say.

HSBC to raise 12 bn pound; bad loans to touch 17 bn pound

Govt banks have cleared only 28,000 proposals so far.

Low response to home loan scheme

With the ninth bipartite wage settlement of bank employees ending inconclusively and the Union finance minister not giving any concrete assurance on revision of salaries, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine bank unions in India, has decided to meet in Chennai on March 5 to decide its future course of action.

Bank unions to decide next move on March 5

Extending its losses to sixth day in a row, the Indian rupee today hit a new life-time low of 51.81/82 against the American currency in morning trade due to continued capital outflows amid dollar demand.

Rupee hits all-time low of 51.81/82 in early trade

On FCNR (B) dollar-denominated deposits for one to less than two years period, the rate has been increased to 3.12 per cent from 2.98 per cent per annum, a release said.

SBI revises NRE, FCNR deposits rates

Europe's largest bank HSBC will be cutting as many as 6,100 jobs in America, as the entity has decided to close down majority of its business network for consumer finance segment.

HSBC to slash 6,100 jobs in US

Kudva was serving as the President, India for Franklin Templeton Investments and has an experience of over 20 years in the banking industry, a press release said here.

Vivek Kudva takes over as Franklin Templeton India MD

Unfazed by the downturn, wealth manager Barclays Wealth is planning to recruit 20 more client advisors taking total number of staff to over 100 by the end of May this year.

Barclays Wealth to hire 20 more advisors

On the heels of leading state-owned banks cutting their lending rates, IDBI Bank today slashed its home loan rates by up to one per cent for new customers effective from tomorrow.

IDBI Bank cuts home loan, deposit rates

The banks offer FCNR deposits in six currencies &mdash; US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and Japanese yen. In the FCNR deposit category, SBI has raised rates by 12-21 basis points on US dollar deposits across various maturities. The new rate for one and less than two-year category is 3.12 per cent (2.98 per cent).

SBI, Union Bk revise NRI deposit rates

The Indian operations of HSBC reported a 26 per cent increase in profit before tax (PBT) at $666 million for calendar 2008 on the back of better performance by its treasury and commercial banking divisions.

HSBC India PBT jumps 26% in &#39;08

John Taylor says three decades of currency trading taught him that a financial turmoil prompts large banks to favour local lending, and that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s buying US dollars for the biggest foreign-exchange hedge fund.

Currency &#39;protectionism&#39; will strengthen dollar

Commercial banks in Karnataka have waived Rs 438.40 crore and regional rural banks (RRBs) Rs 74.62 crore of 192,000 and 52,000 overdue accounts respectively as part of the Prime Minister&rsquo;s relief package to six debt-stressed districts in the state.

Banks waive Rs 438 cr in debt-stressed districts

Stage set for other lenders to follow suit.

SBI, 2 others cut deposit rates

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