Page 3 - Banking

IOB bets big on M&A financing, moves to address CASA concerns: MD & CEO

We are targeting double-digit growth of 13-15 per cent in the next two years, and in the last two years, we have grown more than that, says IOB MD & CEO

SMBC rules out plans to raise stake in Yes Bank beyond current level

In August, SMBC received Reserve Bank of India's approval to buy up to 24.99 per cent stake in Yes bank from State bank of India and seven other shareholders after having inked a deal in May

Digital arrests: Inside India's biggest scam and how to tackle it

Damage caused by the rise of the digital-arrest con, which has found fertile ground amid the country's soaring youth unemployment, endemic corruption and glaring wealth inequality, runs deep and wide

Digital payments to hit 617.3 bn in volume, Rs 907.3 trn value by FY2030

Transaction volumes have increased by 37 per cent to 206 billion, while value has jumped 30 per cent to Rs 299.9 trillion from FY24 to FY25

Relaxation of risk weights unlikely to spur growth in absence of demand

Banks in India are currently sitting on excess capital, with CET1 ratios around 14.7 per cent, well above the regulatory requirement of 8-9 per cent

Indian banks' business correspondent channel set for major overhaul

The rejig of the world's largest field channel of agents is to be based on the findings of a study conducted by the National Institute of Bank Management under the auspices of the central bank

RBI unveils incentive scheme to cut unclaimed bank deposits stock

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday announced a year-long incentive scheme for banks to reduce the volume of unclaimed deposits. Under the 'Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout' Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits', banks will be eligible to get a differential payout depending on the period of an account remaining inoperative and the amount of deposits in it. "The scheme aims to reduce both the stock of existing unclaimed deposits and fresh accretion of flows to the DEA Fund," an official communique from the central bank said. "The objective (of the scheme) is to encourage banks to actively pursue customers/ depositors for re-activation of their inoperative accounts and return of their unclaimed amounts lying with Depositors Education Awareness (DEA) Fund to the rightful claimant in a timely and efficient manner," the central bank said. Unclaimed money in accounts which are inoperative for more than 10 years goes into the depositor education and awareness (DEA) fund, but a ..

RBI revises norms for claims settlement of deceased bank customers

The Reserve Bank on Friday issued revised norms for the settlement of claims on deceased customers' bank accounts and lockers within a 15-day timeframe and prescribed compensation to nominees for delays in the settlement. The revised instructions are aimed at streamlining the divergent practices followed by banks in the settlement of claims in respect of deceased customers. It has also standardised the documentation to bring improvement in the quality of customer service. The central banks said the 'Reserve Bank of India (Settlement of Claims in respect of Deceased Customers of Banks) Directions, 2025' revised instructions will be implemented as expeditiously as possible, but not later than March 31, 2026. The directions are related to the settlement of claims in the deposit accounts of a deceased customer, safe deposit locker and articles in safe custody by the deceased customer. A deposit account where a depositor had made a nomination or where the account was opened with a ...

India's banking liquidity crunch seen as temporary, says analyst

The Reserve Bank of India is comfortable with a liquidity surplus of around 1% of banks' deposits, which is roughly 2.5 trillion rupees

IndusInd Bank appoints Viral Damania as new chief financial officer

Damania's appointment, effective September 22, comes after the bank late last month said veteran banker Rajiv Anand had taken charge as its CEO for a three-year period

UAE firms keen to invest in Indian infra, banking, startups: Piyush Goyal

The UAE companies are looking at multiple sectors, such as infrastructure, data centres, banking, startups and logistics, in India to increase their investments, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. He said that the two countries have reset their targets and are actively working to increase investments rapidly in different sectors, and enhance collaborations in areas such as renewable energy, shipbuilding, retail, and pharmaceuticals. Infrastructure is one of the major sectors where they (UAE) can see huge potential. There was a lot of interest in the banking sector and startups. The interest of potential investors is also in the logistics ecosystem in India and green energy. The UAE is keen to look at investments, Goyal told reporters here. The minister was here for the 13th India-UAE High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments. The two-day visit concluded on September 19. He was leading a 75-member business delegation. There are many ways through which India

0% GST on health, life insurance, banks eye festive season boost, Bima Sugam ready for debut & more

The GST Council has scrapped GST on all individual life and health insurance policies, including term plans, ULIPs, family floaters, and senior citizen covers. Reinsurance is exempt too. >

Karur Vysya Bank cuts MCLR by 10 bps across all tenors from Sept 7

Private sector Karur Vysya Bank on Friday reduced the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points (0.10 percentage points) across all tenors, making loans linked to the benchmark cheaper. The benchmark one-year tenor MCLR, which is used to price most consumer loans like auto and personal, will be at 9.45 per cent against the existing rate of 9.55 per cent, Karur Vsysa Bank said in a regulatory filing. Among others, the rate of one-month, three-month, and six-month tenors will be in the range of 9.30-9.45 per cent. The MCLR on overnight tenor will be 9.15 per cent against 9.25 per cent. The new MCLR of the bank will come into effect from September 7, it said. It is to be noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent.

Deutsche Bank puts India retail banking business up for sale, invites bids

The Germany-based bank has pledged to make its retail business more profitable

China's top banks under strain from rising loan losses, shrinking margins

The lenders, led by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., reported falling or weak earnings for the first half of 2025 as they continued to pump out new loans to China's struggling consumers

India needs to think about its leapfrog moment in AI research: B Ravindran

IIT Madras' B Ravindran says India must focus on AI penetration, data, and infrastructure - not just chasing ChatGPT - as BharatGPT, Sarvam and India AI mission chart the nation's path forward

The good and worrying about the bad loan problem of state-owned banks

Lenders are improving asset quality but they are struggling to recover money

IndusInd Bank to boost retail loans, MSME assets, and rural banking in FY26

Ramping up retail liabilities, scaling secured retail and MSME assets, and being selective in the corporate space are some of the focus areas for the current fiscal, as IndusInd Bank is making efforts to come out of the financial mess caused by past frauds, its chairman Sunil Mehta has said. Observing that FY25 was a watershed year for the bank, Mehta said, "This was also a year of internal reckoning. We faced certain challenges that required swift, transparent and decisive actions by the board and management. These events, while unfortunate, have catalysed a major transformation rooted in ethics, accountability, transparency and long-term sustainability". The Hinduja family-promoted bank, which is reeling under a slew of issues stemming from alleged irregularities at the top management in recognising bad loans and trading reverses, had reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,329 crore for the March quarter of FY25. In March this year, the bank reported a Rs 1,979 crore accounting

ICICI Bank hikes minimum account balance for urban areas to ₹50,000

The minimum balance for semi-urban regions has been increased to ₹25,000 and for rural branches has been increased to ₹10,000 from ₹5,000

Mizuho Bank to hire Mashreqbank PSC's corporate banking India head

Devendra Sharma will be a Mumbai-based managing director at the Japanese lender and look after the bank's business in western India