Category: Banking & Finance

UST named ‘leader’ in blockchain services for banking

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


 

Digital transformation solutions company UST announced that the NelsonHall NEAT report for blockchain services has named it a leader in the banking capability market segment.

Leaders are vendors that exhibit a high capability, relative to peers, to deliver immediate benefit and meet future client requirements, a spokesman for UST said here.

How blockchain can aid healthcare delivery

Building reusable components

UST has a centre of excellence in blockchain in Madrid and an R&D lab in Thiruvananthapuram. More than 100 global organisations across banking, insurance, energy and utilities, healthcare, technology-media-telecom, retail and consumer packaged goods, and transportation use its solutions, the spokesman added.

Don’t ban cryptos: Experts, stakeholders to House panel

The NEAT report cited UST’s focus on building reusable components versus customisable accelerated solutions. Working with practitioners, domain experts, and a network of innovation partners, it offers blockchain services in four categories:

Strategy and consulting services: this includes a framework that enables enterprises to seamlessly adopt blockchain-based solutions and services.

Solution design and development: UST’s lab in Madrid is dedicated to research in rapid prototyping, co-creation of use cases, and concept development on DLT (distributed ledger technology).

Architecture and integration: UST provides blockchain-based solutions that integrate with existing technology to enhance existing solutions.

Products and tools: this includes libraries and accelerators to jumpstart prototypes and manage blockchain infrastructure.

Niranjan Ramsunder, Chief Technology Officer, said the recognition proves UST’s ability to deliver innovative solutions for any bottlenecks including legacy integration challenges.

Cost and time savings

“As a global leader in leveraging blockchains, UST helps reduce cost and time-to-market for clients’ most important blockchain initiatives. We are blockchain platform-agnostic and build on a solid international ecosystem, working with the best vertical solutions on all the principal blockchain platforms,” said Ramsunder.

The NelsonHall report estimates the global market for blockchain services at $496 million in 2020, with a CAGR of 53.3 per cent through 2025. While North America and Europe have the largest blockchain markets, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow fastest in the next five years.

‘Exciting time for blockchain’

UST’s client-specific blockchain solutions facilitate innovative business models built on data reliability and operational agility.

Daniel Field, Head of Blockchain, UST, said the recognition acknowledges UST’s work in helping clients transform their business processes through blockchain technology.

“It is an exciting time for the field of blockchain. Long-envisaged solutions for programmable money and cheaper, faster settlement and reconciliation are rapidly becoming a commercial reality and the exploration of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is accelerating significantly.”

‘Top Case Study’

UST’s blockchain services were recognised by ISG with a ‘Top Case Study Award for Digital Excellence’, highlighting the company’s engagement with a leading Spanish multinational commercial bank to transform its international payments experience through blockchain-based solutions.

The bank launched its mobile-based application, which enables end-customers to complete international transactions in hours, even minutes, instead of the usual 2-3 days.

In four to five clicks, the customer can enter the amount to be transferred, select a recipient and exchange rate, and confirm the transaction. UST played a significant role in delivering this solution and integrating the platform, the spokesman said.

 

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

Kotak Mahindra Bank, PVR Cinemas launch co-branded movie debit card, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Kotak Mahindra Bank and PVR Cinemas on Tuesday launched India’s first co-branded movie debit card, adding to the existing product suite of two co-branded Kotak-PVR Credit Cards.

Cardholders will receive joining vouchers and earn points on every transaction on the debit card at PVR and outside PVR as well, with no upper limit on the points earned.

The points can be redeemed all year round at PVR Cinemas, app or website, to avail free movie tickets and on food and beverages. Upto 17 free movie tickets can be earned with a minimum monthly spend of Rs 20,000 from this debit card.

“The first signs of recovery in the entertainment industry are visible with movie theatres reporting higher footfalls. We believe that this is just the right time to introduce the first-ever co-branded movie debit card in India, enabling us to serve a much larger segment of our customers who are avid movie-goers,” said Puneet Kapoor, President – Products, Alternate Channels and Customer Experience Delivery, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

In a release, the bank said that 10 reward points will be given at every Rs 100 spent at PVR Cinemas while 0.50 reward points will be given for every Rs 100 spent on all the other transactions. Here, one reward point is equivalent to Rs 1.

Further, Kotak PVR debit cardholders will get automatically enrolled to the PVR Privilege Plus programme.

“The launch of the card comes at the right time when the film exhibition sector is showing strong signals of revival with states relaxing restrictions and cinema enthusiasts resuming their movie going habits with the vibrant content pipeline being showcased at the cinemas,” said Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , ,

Kotak Mahindra Bank, PVR Cinemas launch co-branded movie debit card

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Kotak Mahindra Bank and PVR Cinemas on Tuesday launched a co-branded movie debit card.

“With the Kotak PVR Movie Debit Card, cardholders will receive joining vouchers and earn points on every transaction on the debit card at PVR and outside PVR as well, with no upper limit on the points earned,” they said in a statement, adding that points can be redeemed all year round on PVR movie tickets and on food and beverages at PVR.

Further, Kotak PVR debit cardholders will get automatically enrolled to the PVR Privilege Plus programme.

Puneet Kapoor, President – Products, Alternate Channels and Customer Experience Delivery, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “The first signs of recovery in the entertainment industry are visible with movie theatres reporting higher footfalls and eager audiences keen to experience big screen once again. We believe that this is just the right time to introduce the first-ever co-branded movie debit card in India, enabling us to serve a much larger segment of our customers who are avid movie-goers.”

“The launch of the card comes at the right time when the film exhibition sector is showing strong signals of revival with States relaxing restrictions and cinema enthusiasts resuming their movie going habits with the vibrant content pipeline being showcased at the cinemas,” said Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR.

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

ADB to provide USD 61 million loan for development projects in Agartala, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


The Central government has inked a pact with multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank for USD 61 million (around Rs 454 crore) loan to fund development projects in Agartala, Tripura. The government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a USD 61 million loan to improve livability, harness technology and promote new developments to accommodate the expanding population in Agartala city while building the capacity of state agencies for improved service delivery, an official release said on Monday.

The loan agreement for the Agartala City Urban Development Project was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the government and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission.

The project is aligned to the vision of the government Smart City Mission to upgrade urban infrastructure services and will improve livability in Agartala with the provision of better road connectivity, flood resilient measures and making tourist places more attractive, Mishra said.

“Through this project, ADB will catalyse synergies with the smart city components being implemented in Agartala through an underground utility corridor with the shifting of electrical lines, incorporating elderly, women, children, and differently-abled responsive features, improving road geometry along with urban design interventions,” Konishi said

The provision of asset management and sustainability strategy, capacity-building of tourism operators and livelihood improvement of street vendors and artisans will serve as a model to other assets and tourist attractions in Agartala, and other cities in Tripura, he added.

The project will build and upgrade 48 kilometres of new or existing stormwater drainage and construct 23 km of climate-resilient urban roads.

It will also fund the renovation of open spaces and create water recreation and lakeside walkways in Maharaja Bir Bikram College Lake and Ujjayanta Palace — major tourist attractions in the city.

Developing Agartala’s central and north zones as models of area-based development following the principles of the smart city mission initiative is expected to have a ripple effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns by making urban areas more livable, citizen-friendly, resilient, and sustainable, the release said.

(With PTI inputs)



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

Ashwin Khorana joins Ujjivan Small Finance Bank as CIO, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Veteran CIO, Ashwin Khorana has joined Ujjivan Small Finance Bank as CIO. With over three decades of experience, most of which has been in the BFSI sector, he has been instrumental in designing and strategizing the technology roadmap of some of the leading banks in India.

Most recently Khorana was a technology advisor and consultant CIO before joining Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. Prior to that he served as the CIO of Jana Small Finance Bank.

Khorana sees himself as a generalist across the entire financial technology landscape and a master of core areas. Combining his strategy strength with deep technology as well as strong domain expertise in the BFSI sector has made him among the top technology thought leaders in the sector.

Among the leading companies where Khorana has worked in a technology leadership role include Janalakshmi Financial Services, ING Vysya Bank (now Kotak Mahindra Bank) and Standard Chartered Bank among others.

Through his career Khorana has been involved in various Core Banking implementations and has handled solution delivery for Securities Services, CRM, Basel II, Customer Analytics, Credit and Debit Cards, Credit Risk, Payments, Internet Banking, eCommerce & digital initiatives.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

HDFC Bank to hold 2,000 workshops to prevent financial frauds, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Largest private sector lender HDFC bank on Monday said it will be organising 2,000 workshops over the next four months for preventing financial frauds.

The campaign will tell the customers about ways to safeguard themselves against financial fraud, starting with not disclosing any information on banking details.

A special focus is being given to the youth segment, where the bank will be targeting Senior Secondary Schools and Colleges, so that the awareness is ingrained, as per an official statement.

“Digitalization offers customers unparalleled convenience and access to banking services. With these conveniences comes a lot of risks of cyber frauds as well. The fraudsters are constantly on the prowl looking out for gullible customers,” it’s managing director and chief executive Sashidhar Jagdishan said.

The second edition of the campaign titled ‘Mooh Band Rakho’ was launched by K. Rajeswara Rao, Special Secretary, NITI Aayog. Lt General Dr Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Co-ordinator, was also present.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

One more held in bank fraud case, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


THRISSUR: The crime branch team probing the fraud in the CPM-ruled Karuvannur cooperative bank arrested Pallath Kiran, the key accused in the case. Kiran, who hails from Mapranam in the district, was nabbed by the probe team from Kollamkode in Palakkad district, on Monday, the crime branch DSP V A Ullas said.

Kiran was a commission agent of the bank, and not a direct employee. However, nearly Rs 23 crore have flown into his account from the Karuvannur bank. Even though the police have not found any document establishing that Kiran has a membership in the bank, he was sanctioned a loan of Rs 45 lakh. He has also availed loans from another 41 benami accounts, several of them amounting above Rs 50 lakh each, the police sources said. Kiran, however, has said that he was not an employee of the bank and was not involved in the fraud.

Kiran had been absconding for the last several months. As per the information received by police, he had been hiding in several north Indian states as well as Tamil Nadu. He was arrested when he was on his way to Kollamkode by bus, the DSP said.

Kiran is the fourth accused in the case and now only two more accused are remaining to be nabbed in the case.

Row over min attending marriage reception

Meanwhile, minister for higher education R Bindu, has courted controversy by attending the marriage party of the daughter of one of the absconding accused. The marriage of the daughter of Ambili Mahesh was held on October 24, and Bindu, who is the wife of the acting CPM secretary Vijayaraghavan, had reportedly attended the reception at the house of the bridegroom at Muriyad.

Sources close to Bindu clarified that she had attended from the groom’s side. The groom’s mother is currently a district panchayat member. Bindu and the groom’s mother have worked for long periods in the CPM.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , , ,

RBI officers, staff chalk out agitation plan to press wage revision

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Officers and employees of the Reserve Bank of India are on an agitational path from today (Tuesday) after their ‘several attempts’ to revive talks on long-pending issue of wage settlement have failed repeatedly.

“We have no option but to protest the inexplicable dilly-dallying on a highly sensitive matter such as wage revision pending for last four years and more,” said Samir Ghosh, Arun Samaddar, Gavin Coelho, and Jeet Pathak, who represent employees, workers and officers’ unions under the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees.

‘Wait in vain’

The United Forum told the constituents in a circular that “we felt very strongly to embark on protest earlier, but in deference to the wishes of some well-meaning friends, collectively decided to hold on till this week. The Governor was reportedly scheduled to hold talks with the Human Resources Management Department and we were expecting a solution to emerge.”

“Our wait is in vain, unfortunately,” the circular said. Having exhausted all avenues of peaceful solution, it has been decided that delegations of joint office-bearers/executive committee meet with Regional Directors of the RBI during lunch recess today (Tuesday) demanding immediate resumption of the process of finalisation of wage talks.

Mass leave

Lunch-time gate demonstrations will be launched on Thursday and officers and employees will wear a badge during November 23 to 26. Lunch-time mass deputations will be taken out to the offices of the Regional Directors/Officers-in-charge on November 26.

All staff coming under the current wage settlement will go on mass casual leave on November 30, the circular said.

A senior retired RBI official said that although employees and staff have the goodwill of the RBI’s name, they have had to struggle at different times for either fair and respectable salary revisions or other service conditions.

Pensioners suffer worst

“Since September 2008, these struggles have been more marked, frequent and regrettable, as the independence of the Bank even in staff matters had been surrendered to outside authority,” he said on condition of anonymity.

It is an ironic coincidence that on a day the Prime Minister dedicated some of the functions of the RBI to the nation, the staff has had to announce an agitational programme for getting a fair and honourable wage settlement.

Pensioners and family pensioners have been worse sufferers since counterparts in the government institutions have benefited far more, the retired official said.

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

Bankers plan to seek safeguards against undue vigilance action, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Bankers will seek a more robust framework for protecting them from any undue vigilance action in bona fide commercial decisions at a stakeholder conference on November 17-18 organised by the government to address issues relating to credit flow into different sectors of the economy.

Industry chambers and financial institutions, including non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), have been invited to the conference.

A senior bank executive told ET that a representation had been made to the finance ministry on this count.

Besides the finance ministry, senior officials from other ministries will also be a part of this stakeholder conference and provide insights to projects in the pipeline in their respective areas. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet bankers, including from the private sector, financial institutions and other stakeholders at the two-day meeting.

“We want bankers to be protected under Section 197 of The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and bring them on a par with other government officials,” the bank executive said. “We will bring this to the attention of the finance minister.”

Under Section 197, a court cannot take cognisance of a criminal charge against a public servant unless there is prior sanction from the competent authority to prosecute him.

The move comes in the backdrop of Rajasthan police arresting former State Bank of India chairman Pratip Chaudhuri in relation to a complaint by a loan defaulter.

The government had, recently, issued a circular that laid down the standard operating procedure for processing cases under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. As per the guidelines, any police inquiry on decisions taken by public servants in discharge of their duties need prior nod from the competent authority.

“These guidelines were flouted and hence it is necessary that a more robust framework should be put in place,” said another bank executive.

Last month, the finance ministry had advised state-run lenders to adopt broad guidelines on ‘Staff Accountability Framework for NPA Accounts up to ₹50 crore (Other than Fraud Cases)’. The new guidelines are aimed to protect bank staff taking commercial decisions as well as to ensure faster dispensation of vigilance cases while taking into account employees’ past track record.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , ,

World Bank and ADB launches ‘WePOWER India’ to increase women workforce in energy sector, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


The WePOWER India Partnership Forum, held through a virtual platform on November 9, 2021, launched the efforts to scale up the South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) in India.

This important initiative was attended by 168 key energy sector stakeholders. The event was organized by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in association with the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF).

India is significantly investing in clean energy, grid modernization, and digitalisation of its utilities. Consequently, job profiles in the Indian energy sector are evolving with more emphasis on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and renewable energy solutions. There is a growing demand for skilled human resources to fill these new green jobs. Women can help to fill this skills gap required for the energy transition. However, the participation of women in the energy sector remains very low. To address this, the energy sector must attract, develop and retain talented women professionals.

The World Bank is committed to promoting gender equality in the Indian electricity sector. Towards this goal, the World Bank, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, launched the WePOWER in February 2019. WePOWER is a network of 28 energy sector utilities and organizations committed to implementing systematic and incremental gender activities to support workforce participation of women in energy projects and utilities, and promote normative change for women and girls in Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

The launch ceremony was preceded over by the Vishal Kapoor, Joint Secretary – Distribution, Ministry of Power, Govt of India; Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank; and Reji Kumar Pillai, President, India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF); Among other dignitaries were Guangzhe Chen, Regional Director for Infrastructure, South Asia, World Bank; Takeo Konishi, Country Director, ADB; and Reena Suri, Executive Director, ISGF.

Vishal Kapoor, Joint Secretary – Distribution, Ministry of Power, Govt of India mentioned that the Ministry of Power recognises that “Women will be needed to fill the increasing talent demand in the power sector, and their participation in technical and professional roles can contribute greatly to the sector’s effectiveness” and “Indian power sector has made progresses in terms of diversifying the work place and increasing women’s participations, including in leadership positions.”

He added, “In a survey of 28 Indian DISCOMs it was found that 4/5th of them have at least one female at top positions. This represents the growth of women’s participation in power sector”

A panel discussion on Expanding Job Opportunities in India’s Clean Energy Transition’ was moderated by Simon J Stolp, Practice Manager, South Asia Energy, World Bank, with eminent panelists from the Indian power sector such as Dr Tripta Thakur, Director General, National Power Training Institute; Sanjay Banga, President, The Tata Power Company Limited; Dr Praveen Saxena, Chief Executive Officer, Skill Council for Green Jobs; Gargi Chatterjea, Executive Director, CESC Limited; and Dr Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics Pvt. Ltd; The panel of eminent speakers shared their views on how a diverse talent pool can be mobilized to accelerate India’s clean energy transition.

Pradeep Perera, Officer-in-Charge, Energy Division, South Asia Regional Department provided the key takeaways and concluding remarks.

Tripta Thakur, Director General, NPTI said that the government and NPTI recognises the need to bring more skilled women into the power sector, and NPTI is working with various stakeholders on developing training modules best suited to achieve this goal.

Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics Pvt. Ltd mentioned that “Not only Electricity but Human Energy needs to capitalised for women empowerment and transformation”.

Overall, the stakeholders agreed that initiatives like WePOWER are important to attracting and retaining more women in the energy sector. The initiative received a lot of appreciation, positive feedback, and interest from the participating energy sector professionals. In the coming months, WePOWER will host in-depth meetings with prominent stakeholders from the sector to take forward the agenda of increasing women’s participation in the power sector.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , , ,
1 … 34 35 36 37 38 … 540