The new-age banking in India

There is no denying the fact that private and foreign banks are penetrating into the Indian market with great force, as they have a better focus on the implementation of modern technologies and providing convenient banking services to their customers. However, the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) still control almost 80 per cent of the business in the country due to their wide network of branches and thus, a better reach to more and more people. Though RBI encourages entry of new private banks and grants licenses to industrial houses, the Public Sector Banks are way ahead of their private counterparts. The RBI is now even permitting mutual funds, non-banking financial companies, bond houses and insurance companies to borrow funds against corporate funds by allowing the sale and repurchase agreements in corporate debt.

State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India (BoI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Allahabad Bank and Central Bank of India are among the leading public sector lenders, while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank come in the list of leading private banks in India. The stiff competition within the banks has come out as a boon for the customers who are now witnessing a wide range of options to choose from, right from banks to banking services. Banks in India are now passing through a phase of customers’ market. Gone are the days, when one used to wait for hours before withdrawing cash from his/her bank account. With the rapid advancement of technologies in the sector, one can execute most of his/her account transactions without visiting the branch. Thanks to Internet banking that has made it all possible.

Within a short span of time, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of individuals using this facility to check their account balances and statements. What more, the user can also make online payment for his/her bills. That means, a complete peace of mind for the customers. No need to say that Internet banking feature saves the customers from unnecessary time-wastage and is nothing short of a big relief for the banks’ customers. Phone banking is another feature that has gained popularity among the Indian masses, which they use to esquire about their accounts. Loans, debit cards, credit cards, insurance and investment plans are among the other services that the banks are providing to their customers and also to lure the new ones.

The Indian banking sector is still in its infancy and has still a long way to go, before it could compete with its Western and European counterparts. Banks in India also managed to tide over the impact of global slowdown and then came out successfully from the Dubai Crisis. In-fact, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that banks in India are going great guns and with the entry of private and foreign banks in the sector, the whole scenario is set to change very soon.

Ankit Arora is an expert author. He has written many articles on Internet banking and banking of ICICI Bank.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/the-newage-banking-in-india-1754276.html

The new-age banking in India

There is no denying the fact that private and foreign banks are penetrating into the Indian market with great force, as they have a better focus on the implementation of modern technologies and providing convenient banking services to their customers. However, the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) still control almost 80 per cent of the business in the country due to their wide network of branches and thus, a better reach to more and more people. Though RBI encourages entry of new private banks and grants licenses to industrial houses, the Public Sector Banks are way ahead of their private counterparts. The RBI is now even permitting mutual funds, non-banking financial companies, bond houses and insurance companies to borrow funds against corporate funds by allowing the sale and repurchase agreements in corporate debt.

State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India (BoI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Allahabad Bank and Central Bank of India are among the leading public sector lenders, while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank come in the list of leading private banks in India. The stiff competition within the banks has come out as a boon for the customers who are now witnessing a wide range of options to choose from, right from banks to banking services. Banks in India are now passing through a phase of customers’ market. Gone are the days, when one used to wait for hours before withdrawing cash from his/her bank account. With the rapid advancement of technologies in the sector, one can execute most of his/her account transactions without visiting the branch. Thanks to Internet banking that has made it all possible.

Within a short span of time, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of individuals using this facility to check their account balances and statements. What more, the user can also make online payment for his/her bills. That means, a complete peace of mind for the customers. No need to say that Internet banking feature saves the customers from unnecessary time-wastage and is nothing short of a big relief for the banks’ customers. Phone banking is another feature that has gained popularity among the Indian masses, which they use to esquire about their accounts. Loans, debit cards, credit cards, insurance and investment plans are among the other services that the banks are providing to their customers and also to lure the new ones.

The Indian banking sector is still in its infancy and has still a long way to go, before it could compete with its Western and European counterparts. Banks in India also managed to tide over the impact of global slowdown and then came out successfully from the Dubai Crisis. In-fact, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that banks in India are going great guns and with the entry of private and foreign banks in the sector, the whole scenario is set to change very soon.

Ankit Arora is an expert author. He has written many articles on Internet banking and banking of ICICI Bank.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/the-newage-banking-in-india-1754335.html

Bash the Bankers !

Until about 1.5 years back, Investment banker was one of the hottest and wealthiest job anyone could ever have. It was the ‘Angelina Jolie’ of all campus placements. But today, if there is one profession you want to bash and kick at and get an applaud – just lash out at any top executive employed with one of the global financial institutes or banks.

And of course our hope president Obama is not going to fall back. So he has lashed out at the bonuses declared by the banking institutions and asked them to pay up first before throwing away all the bonuses and has declared a $ 117Bn levy recovery plan over the next 10 years. In what I think is one of the most logical decisions made by the government, he has rightly decided to bash the big guys with more than 50bn worth and that too as a tax on all ‘wholesale finance’ and not the retail deposits and equity capital. So banks dependent on retail public deposits are relatively better off, but bad news for the likes of Goldman Sachs.

But what puzzles me is, is all this really required? Was the bailout money just thrown away at these people while they were out with the begging bowl without a fixed plan to recover every penny of the taxpayers money back? Or more importantly, are the top financial institutions still so greedy and shameless that they have absolute no moral responsibility of taking things easy for about 2 years until they have paid back what they owe to the world(World because when these guys decide to go down, they don’t go down alone. They take the entire world with them). It is like your house catches a fire, you don’t have money to rebuild it and the local sheriff convinces the neighboring community to help you out. You rebuild the house and in 6 months buy a new porche before paying your neighbors back.

So instead of saying – ok, we messed up, thank you taxpayers for bailing us out & we will not take a bonus and get things back on track, you take a big perk and flaunt it shamelessly. Banking institutions seem to be moving towards a role of milking the economy rather than serving the economy. Does this not expose the cultural degrade due to hard core capitalism.

India has a relatively closed banking and financial system that kept it that much insulated from the global crisis. But the big question is, I don’t know if it will happen, but if we are talking about India becoming a developed super power – do we become an easternized- eastern super power or a westernized eastern super power. So will we be able to keep the advantages that our culture has ingrained in us-  for e.g. the attitude of saving, or will we adopt the mistakes of the west as well while moving ahead. Imagine a bank employee from India and I am sure for most who have visited the bank at times, the image would be an honest and sincere middle aged employee who counts the notes for you and hands them over with a smile. I am not aiming at keeping things primitive, but the important point here is – ‘honest and sincere’, not oversmart and sly. I hope we retain that always.

A closed banking system will give rise to more number of alternative finance institutions which would then pressurize the government into securitizing their mortgage products. And though it may seem far off, we know what can happen with our government policy decisions. And a completely open will inflate the bubble again. Hopefully, we can hang on to that golden mid way somewhere.

Lets hope when its our turn to dictate the world, we become a socially, morally and culturally responsible capitalist giant. Fearlessly smart and aggressively good !

Rahul is the managing partner at Ensemble Consultants Inc – a web2.0, CRM and BPM software development company based in Illinois, with their main development center in Pune,India. Interests include Indian politics, world economy , travel & business and mocking on current affairs. Currently based in Melbourne and establishing base for 2 of our products : EC24×7.com – end to end web solutions for SMB’s and Surecents.com – custom CRM for small businesses.
He writes on 2 blogs :rahulrane.wordpress.com – for business and web2.0 &
www.arerelax.blogspot.com – for politics and economy.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/bash-the-bankers–1727407.html

Saving confidence ‘on the up’

A significant number of people are looking to save more money over the course of 2010, it has been revealed.

Britons are taking an increasingly positive approach towards saving, new research has shown – and such a trend appears to be particularly the case among men.

Such is the assertion of NS&I which points towards findings indicating that just over a quarter (27 per cent) of people claim they are likely to place more money in saving accounts over the course of 2010 then they were able to do in 2009.

However, men appear to be leading the way when it comes to setting money aside, as 30 per cent state they will boost savings in UK accounts over the coming year. Not only does this represent a rise from the 25 per cent who felt this way last autumn, it is also the first improvement in saving confidence to have been recorded since spring 2008.

On the other hand, just under a quarter (24 per cent) of women state they will save more – the same figure recorded in the previous NS&I survey.

On a geographical basis, those living in the north-east, East Anglia, Greater London and Wales are those most optimistic about saving.

However, confidence about tucking money into cash ISAs and other saving products falls among residents in the south-west. With only 22 per cent of people thinking they will set more cash aside, saving confidence here is the lowest recorded in Britain.

Commenting on the findings, Tim Mack, savings spokesperson for NS&I, states: “People are increasingly confident that they will save more over the next year than they have done in the last year. Improving prospects in 2010 may be one reason, or it could be that people are taking the new year as an opportunity to review and refresh their finances and to increase their savings to boost their financial security.”

Research released by Abbey last December showed the average Briton was putting £198 away each month, a rise of 21 per cent from that saved at the beginning of the year.

UK Price Comparison website Which4U – Compare Credit Cards, Savings Accounts, Fixed Rate Bonds, Bank Accounts, ISAs, Loans, Mortgages, Insurance, TV & Broadband and Gas/Electric bills to find the best UK deals

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/saving-confidence-on-the-up-1713039.html

Saving ’seen as less important’

British optimism towards saving has fallen, Nationwide reveals.

People are taking a poorer view towards placing money in savings accounts, new research indicates.

Nationwide, in its latest Saving Index report, reveals a fall in the number of consumers who set money aside last month.

During the course of December, 25 per cent of people stated they were not putting any money aside, a statistic claimed to be “worrying”, a rise of one percentage point from November.

Meanwhile, 45 per cent of those questioned are currently saving into UK accounts regularly.

Overall, the Savings Index noted a score of 83, compared to the 87 seen in November, with a particularly dramatic fall seen in the Importance of Saving Index.

This particular sub-index dropped 12 points to 86, although an improvement in the Savings Environment Index was noted.

“December is clearly a busier month for retailers, so there is no surprise that the importance of saving decreased in the run-up to Christmas,” Andy Hutchinson, head of savings for Nationwide, states.

Mr Hutchinson points out that the decline in saving activity could also be attributed to the fact “that December 2009 was the last month before VAT increased back up to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent”, giving some people the incentive to make large purchases before the start of 2010.

Adding this Christmas is often an expensive time of year for families, those who are looking towards placing money into ISA accounts and other saving options may be interested in his comments that families should look to start putting away for the future as quickly as possible.

However, Ed Bowsher, head of consumer finance at lovemoney.com, recently claimed that Britons are placing a greater priority on clearing debts owed on credit cards and other forms of borrowing as they take a poor view of the rate of interest attached to accounts.

UK Price Comparison website Which4U – Compare Credit Cards, Savings Accounts, Fixed Rate Bonds, Bank Accounts, ISAs, Loans, Mortgages, Insurance, TV & Broadband and Gas/Electric bills to find the best UK deals

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/saving-seen-as-less-important-1713046.html

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