Banking - General Knowledge Questions

Private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank on Tuesday(12th July 2022) said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of former RBI executive "Meena Hemchandra" as part-time chairman of the bank for three years.

 

In May, the bank had recommended Hemchandra's candidature for the position of non-executive independent (part-time) chairperson of the bank to the RBI for approval.

 

"We wish to inform...Reserve Bank of India vide their letter dated July 11, 2022, accorded their approval for the appointment of Meena Hemchandra as part-time chairman of the bank," Karur Vysya Bank said in a regulatory filing.


Source : Business Standard

City Union Bank (CUB) and Shriram General Insurance, on Friday(8th July 2022), signed a corporate agency agreement, where the bank will distribute the latter’s insurance products through its network of 727 branches across India.

 

Under this agreement, Shriram General Insurance will offer personal lines of insurance products such as motor, personal accident, home and travel, along with commercial lines of insurance products such as property, marine and engineering insurance to the bank’s customers. The agreement will help deliver enhanced customer experience by leveraging technology and augmenting the services distributed by the bank, says a release.

 

For general insurance, life insurance, and health insurance, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has allowed banks to form alliances with three different corporations. The bank and Shriram Insurance have recently formed a partnership.

 

In the beginning, the bank collaborated with the broking company Bharat Re Insurance Brokers (of the Shriram Group) to handle customers, assess risks, and settle claims. However, this is no longer present..

Source : Hhindubusinessline

Union Bank of India has announced the launch of a Metaverse Virtual Lounge & Open Banking Sandbox environment. This initiative is in partnership with Tech Mahindra.

 

Uni-verse, the bank’s Metaverse Virtual Lounge, will host product information and videos in the initial phase. Uni-verse will deliver a unique banking experience to customers by providing them information on the bank’s deposits, loans, government welfare schemes, digital initiatives etc. in a way as if they are in the real world.

 

The bank has also launched an Open Banking Sandbox environment through which it will collaborate with fin-techs and start-up partners for developing and launching innovative banking products.

 

A Manimekhalai, MD&CEO, Union Bank of India, affirmed the bank’s adoption of latest technologies including Metaverse to transform customers’ banking experience to another level, at the launch event organised in Mumbai. Nitesh Ranjan, Executive Director, Union Bank of India, reiterated the bank’s commitment of facilitating an innovative banking experience to its customers through the launch of Metaverse and Sandbox..

Source : Mint

Punjab National Bank (PNB), the nation’s leading Public Sector Bank, has signed(7th July 2022) a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to provide specially designed products to the defence personnel under the bank’s flagship scheme of ‘PNB Rakshak Plus’.

The scheme covers personal accidental insurance, air accidental insurance to serving, retired and trainees of the defence forces, central armed police forces, state police force, metro police and retired defence pensioners.

The South Indian Bank has signed an agreement with Kerala’s Forest and Wildlife Department to enable digital collection of payments at eco-tourism centres, Vanasree shops, mobile Vanasree units and eco-shops across the State.

 

Through this partnership, the digital collection system of South Indian Bank will now be available at all 124 tourist spots that fall under the Forest Department.

 

The tie-up will commence with the setting up of 124 POS machines at various eco-tourism centres, Vanasree shops, mobile Vanasree units and eco-shops under 36 forest department agencies across Kerala.

Sanchay Kumar Sinha, Country Head of retail banking department, South Indian Bank, said, “The bank’s digital payment system will be very convenient for customers who visit sales outlets run by the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department..

Source  : The Hindu Businessline

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday(4th July 2022) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.05 crore and Rs 1 crore on Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank, respectively, for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.

 

In case of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the RBI found that the private lender failed to maintain margin on advances to stock brokers; credit (shadow reversal) the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transactions to the customers’ account within 10 working days from the date of notification by the customer; and credit eligible amount to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the period prescribed. This was found in a statutory inspection for supervisory evaluation of the bank conducted by RBI with reference to its financial positions as on March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2019.

 

As for IndusInd Bank, the monetary penalty was imposed on it as it failed to adhere to customer due diligence procedure in the accounts opened using OTP based e-KYC, in non-face-to-face mode..

Source : Business Standard

Axis Bank, a private lender, has announced the introduction of Dining Delights for bank clients in collaboration with EazyDiner, a top platform for table reservations, cuisine discovery, and restaurant payments. Numerous advantages will be provided by the service, including the ability to select from over 10,000 upscale restaurants in India and Dubai, fast confirmation of table bookings, and special discounts for reservations made through the EazyDiner app.

 

* In comparison to pre-Covid days, the number of clients who choose to find and eat at upscale restaurants has increased by about 132 percent, according to EazyDiner real-time data analytics.

* Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are in the forefront of this huge rebound, followed by Goa, which has recently begun to gain in popularity.

* Additionally, with tremendous momentum building across the nation, consumers are dining out 3.2 times per month as opposed to 2.1 times per month prior to Covid.

* For premium cardholders, Dining Delights will soon offer “Celebrations with Axis Bank and EazyDiner,” an exclusive birthday celebration experience.

* During this experience, they can receive customised dining recommendations for their birthday from the EazyDiner culinary concierge and receive a 50% discount on their meal..

Source : Hotelierindia

For the distribution of its health insurance options, the insurer and IDFC FIRST Bank have inked a corporate agency agreement. In accordance with this strategic partnership, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company will use IDFC FIRST Bank‘s cutting-edge digital platform and extensive distribution network to offer its best-in-class health insurance products to the Bank’s customers.

 

* With a focus on going digital, IDFC FIRST Bank provides customer service through its mobile app and net banking platform, which supplement its network of branches, ATMs, and lending centres.

* As the first independent health insurance provider in India, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company began doing business in 2006. It specialises in health, personal accident, and international travel insurance.

* On June 27, 2022, shares of Star Health dropped 3.49 percent to Rs 514.80..

Source : Business Standard

SBI Cards and Payment Services announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Aditya Birla Finance (ABFL), the lending subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital for the launch of 'Aditya Birla SBI Card'.

 

The card has been designed to give customers significant reward points on their spending around telecom, fashion, travel, dining, entertainment, and hotels, among others.

 

The said credit card has been launched in two variants, 'Aditya Birla SBI Card SELECT' and 'Aditya Birla SBI Card', on the Visa platform. Cardholders can avail greater value back in the form of reward points on their spends on Aditya Birla Group companies.

 

According to Rama Mohan Rao Amara, MD & CEO of SBI Card, "This partnership will enable us to issue credit cards to Aditya Birla Group's customer base, thereby providing them a great product for all their spending needs..

Source : Business Standard

Gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of banks fell to six-year low of 5.9% in March 2022, said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its financial stability report for 30th June 2022. The Net Non-Performing Assets (NNPA) ratio fell to 1.7% in March 2022.

 

Macro-stress tests for credit risk reveal that scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) are well-capitalised and all banks would be able to comply with the minimum capital requirements even under adverse stress scenarios, it added.

 

Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) maintained robust capital positions, with the Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET-1) Ratio of SCBs as high as 16.7% and 13.6%, respectively, in March 2022, and improving returns on assets (RoA) and returns on equity (RoE). Meanwhile, the provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) of SCBs increased to 70.9% in March 2022 from 67.6% in March 2021, the report showed..

Source : Mint