Tag: ICICI Bank

HDFC Bank, SBI, others not adhering to norms on bulk SMSes, says TRAI; sets Mar 31 deadline for full compliance, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The telecom regulator on Friday released a list of 40 “defaulter” principal entities, including large banks like HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank, that are not fulfilling the regulatory norms on bulk commercial messages despite repeated reminders. Hardening its stance on the issue, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) warned that defaulting entities should comply with the stipulated requirements by March 31, 2021 “to avoid any disruption in the communication with customers” from April 1, 2021.

“As sufficient opportunity has been given to principal entities/ telemarketers to comply with the regulatory requirements and that the consumers cannot be deprived of the benefits of the regulatory provisions any further, therefore it has been decided that from April 1, 2021, any message failing in the scrubbing process due to non-compliance of regulatory requirements will be rejected” by the system, TRAI said in a statement.

TRAI’s norms for commercial messages, based on blockchain technology, aim to curb unsolicited and fraudulent messages.

The norms require bonafide entities sending commercial text messages to register message header and templates with telecom operators. The SMSes and OTPs, when sent by user entities (banks, payment companies and others), are checked against the templates registered on the blockchain platform — a process called SMS scrubbing.

TRAI has analysed the scrubbing data and reports submitted by the telecom service providers and also held a meeting with telemarketers/ aggregators on March 25, 2021.

“It has been informed that Principal Entities including major banks like State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank etc are not transmitting mandatory parametres like content template IDs, PE IDs etc. even in those cases where content templates have been registered, while sending such messages to telecom service providers for delivery,” TRAI said.

The regulator, on analysing the cases of failure of messages due to scrubbing, found that various principal entities and telemarketers are not fulfilling regulatory requirements.

In the absence of these necessary parameters, the messages are bound to be rejected by the system during the scrubbing process.

TRAI has released a list of 40 “defaulter” principal entities which includes large banks like Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, and big names like Reliance Retail Ltd, and Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd.

Others in the list include Life Insurance Corporation of India and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

Separately, TRAI has also issued a list of 40 “defaulter telemarketers”.

“Sufficient time has already been given to the Principal Entities/ telemarketers and other entities to comply with the regulatory framework. However, it appears that few entities are not only indifferent but also not serious enough in complying with the provisions of the regulations thereby causing inconvenience to customers,” the TRAI statement said.

This “should not and cannot” be allowed to continue, it asserted.

Enforcement of TRAI regulations is vital as delivery of non compliant messages allows fraudulent miscreants to conveniently misuse the message delivery system for cheating and defrauding customers, it contended.

TRAI said entities involved in sending out bulk commercial messages should fulfil regulatory requirements.

It urged regulatory bodies like RBI, SEBI, IRDA, central and state government departments and other establishments to “impress upon Principal entities” under their jurisdiction to follow the regulatory requirements strictly.

Earlier this month, transactions, including banking, credit card payment and certain other services that involve SMSes and OTP generation, had faced an major outage when telcos implemented the TRAI norms for commercial messages, without the balancing measures in place by principal entities (entities that send out bonafide bulk, commercial messages).

Following the disruption, TRAI has given a temporary breather to such companies, but had insisted that they take immediate measures to comply with the norms.



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ICICI-Videocon PMLA case: HC grants bail to Deepak Kochhar

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The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Kocchar had approached the high court after a special court in the city rejected his bail in December last year.

Also read: ICICI Bank launches instant EMI facility on net banking for high value transactions

Justice PD Naik of the high court granted bail to him on merits on Thursday.

Kocchar was arrested by the ED in September last year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the alleged ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case.

The ED registered the money laundering case following an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Kochhar couple, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot, and others for allegedly causing loss to ICICI Bank by sanctioning loans to the Videocon Group of companies in contravention to the policies of ICICI Bank.

Kochhar had argued that the ED had taken note of all the alleged proceeds of crime in the case, so there was no chance of him creating any third party rights, or interfering with the probe if out on bail.

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ICICI Bank launches instant EMI facility on internet banking, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Private lender, ICICI Bank has launched an instant EMI facility on its internet banking platform. called ‘EMI @ Internet Banking’, the facility aims to offer increased affordability to millions of pre-approved customers, as it enables them to convert their high-value transactions up to Rs. 5 lakh into easy monthly instalments.

It also brings in enhanced customer experience as customers get the benefit of EMIs instantly and in a fully digital manner.

ICICI Bank is the first in the industry to introduce instant EMI facility on its internet banking platform. The Bank has tied up with BillDesk and Razorpay, leading online payment gateway companies to offer this facility.

Presently, the ‘EMI @ Internet Banking’ has been enabled for over 1000 merchants in categories like online shopping portals, insurance, travel, education- school fees and electronic chains.

The Bank endeavours to partner with more payment gateway companies, merchants and add categories under this facility in the near future.

Sudipta Roy, Head- Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, “We have observed that many of our customers undertake high-value transactions for payments of insurance premiums, school fees, purchasing electronics, or paying for vacations through the Bank’s internet banking platform. Our latest offering of ‘EMI @ Internet Banking’ brings in enhanced affordability for customers by providing them with flexibility of EMIs for high value transactions.”

He added, “It also offers immense convenience to the customers as the entire experience is completely digital and instant. We believe this facility will empower millions of our pre-approved customers to purchase or shop for their needs in a completely contactless, instant, digital and secure manner.”

Ajay Kaushal, Co-founder and Director BillDesk said, “This will help ICICI Bank customers easily finance their online purchases using convenient monthly instalment payments across merchants supported by BillDesk.”

Khilan Haria, Head- Payments Product, Razorpay said, “This EMI on internet banking feature will be a major value-add to our partner businesses by providing them with higher conversion rates and benefit end-consumers by now making large payments easier and affordable.”



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ICICI Bank launches instant EMI facility on net banking for high value transactions

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Private sector lender ICICI Bank has launched an instant EMI facility on its internet banking platform.

Called ‘EMI @ Internet Banking’, the facility would allow pre-approved customers to convert high-value transactions up to ₹5 lakh into easy monthly instalments (EMIs).

“With this, customers can now purchase their favourite gadget or pay for their insurance premium or school fees in easy EMIs from their savings account using the internet banking platform,” ICICI Bank said in a statement, adding that the EMI would be instant and fully digital.

The bank has tied up with BillDesk and Razorpay to offer the facility. It has been enabled for over 1,000 merchants in categories like online shopping portals, insurance, travel, education- school fees and electronic chains.

“The bank endeavours to partner with more payment gateway companies, merchants and add categories under this facility in the near future,” it further said.

Customers can make purchases for amounts between ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakh and select the tenure of their choice three months, six months, nine months and 12 months.

Sudipta Roy, Head- Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, “We have observed that many of our customers undertake high-value transactions for payments of insurance premiums, school fees, purchasing electronics, or paying for vacations through the bank’s internet banking platform.”

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Banks face hit on margins as deposit rates seen surging, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Banks are likely to face a dent in their margins in the year ahead.

Net interest margins (NIM), a key indicator of profitability, which have improved for the banks in the last one year are likely to be compressed as borrowings pick up in the year ahead and deposit rates face pressure.

Rising margins

The banks have seen a sharp drop in credit offtake due to pandemic-led slowdown. On the other hand, they saw a huge rise in deposits.

helped with policy cuts, banks have cut interest rates heavily on deposits and lending. However, the drop in interest rates has been bigger than on lending. The weighted average term deposit rate has fallen 80 basis points in the first nine months of this fiscal, while the weighted average lending rate on outstanding loans has fallen by 62 bps. This has led to an increase in banks’ net interest margins in the last one year.

Fourth-quarter NIMs

Net interest margins, which is the difference between the interest income earned and the interest paid by a bank or financial institution relative to its interest-earning assets like cash, have remained in the above 3-percent bracket in the third quarter.

For the December quarter, NIM has remained stable for State Bank of India at 3.34%. For ICICI Bank, it expanded sequentially to 3.67%.

While for Axis Bank, NIM before interest reversals stood at 3.59%.

The year ahead

Credit offtake is expected to be robust in the coming financial year, which would mean a higher demand for deposit funds and hence, a higher rate of interest. This is expected to be driven by investment demand from infrastructure and real estate sectors as well as the release of pent-up consumer demand, thus resulting in high growth in retail finance.

However, experts have started questioning the ability of RBI to continue with its accommodative stance along with trying to achieve its macro-economic targets for inflation and fiscal deficit. All macro-economic indicators together point towards an inevitable rise in deposit rates starting from the second half of the FY 2021-22. Some banks and non-banking finance companies have already started increasing deposit rates across tenures, especially rates on longer-term FDs.

Credit offtake

Banks gave out credit at a faster rate during the fortnight ending February 12, as compared to the same period last year, helped by an increase in retail loans. The bank credit growth was recorded at 6.6%, marginally higher from the 6.4% recorded last year, a report by CARE Ratings showed. With this, the credit growth is back in the range that was last seen during the early months of the pandemic. The credit growth of banks ranged between 6.5% to 7.2% in April 2020.

Deposit growth

Deposits with banks have also increased during the period under review. deposits increased 12.06 during the fortnight ended February 12, 2021, compared with 11.1% growth registered during the fortnight ended January 29, 2021, and also as compared with the previous year,” CARE Ratings said. The report further added that the outflows in debt mutual fund and equity mutual fund could support the rise in bank deposits. Of these deposits, time deposits grew at 89% while demand deposits account for the remaining 11%.



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Bank credit grows by 6.63 per cent

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Bank credit rose by 6.63 per cent to Rs 107.75 lakh crore and deposits grew by 12.06 per cent to Rs 149.34 lakh crore in the fortnight ended February 26, according to a report.

In the fortnight ended February 28, 2020, bank credit stood at Rs 101.05 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 133.26 lakh crore, the recent data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

Bank credit increased by 6.58 per cent to Rs 107.04 lakh crore and deposits rose by 11.75 per cent to Rs 147.81 lakh crore in the previous fortnight ended February 12, 2021.

Care Ratings in a report said the bank credit growth in the fortnight ended February 26 stood stable compared to the last fortnight and returned to the levels observed in the early months of the pandemic, when the loan growth ranged between 6.5 per cent to 7.2 per cent during April 2020.

According to analysts, the growth in bank credit is driven by an increase in retail loans.

Emkay Global Financial Services in its March 5 report said it expects overall retail credit growth, which is currently at 9 per cent, to accelerate further, led by mortgages (contributing 51 per cent of retail loans) and back-end support by unsecured (cards/ personal loans) and vehicle loans.

“The current market conditions favour banks armed with lower funding rates, strong balance sheet, better asset quality and strong captive customer base,” Anand Dama, an analyst at Emkay Global, had said in the report. Large private banks such as HDFC Bank (despite suspension in new card acquisition) and ICICI Bank have been at the forefront of retail growth momentum, while Kotak Bank too is finally showing signs of much-needed growth and trying to raise the retail game, the report had said.

Among state-run banks, SBI and Bank of Baroda, which have been the key players in the mortgage market, are changing gears in the auto finance space as well, the research report said.

Care Ratings believe that the increase in the credit outstanding during the next fortnight is anticipated as year-end transactions are expected to push up bank credit as banks undertake the year-end closing activities. This trend can be witnessed for the last three-four years. In the first nine months of the current fiscal, while the growth in credit was 3.2 per cent, bank deposits saw a rise of 8.5 per cent.

“While bank credit growth had contracted 0.8 per cent in the first half of this fiscal, it recovered sharply in the third quarter by growing around 3 per cent sequentially. In the fourth quarter, too, it should clock near 3 per cent sequential growth,” Crisil Ratings Senior Director Krishnan Sitaraman had said in a report released earlier this month.

The rating agency expects bank credit to rise 4-5 per cent in the current fiscal despite the sharpest contraction the Indian economy has seen since independence.

In the financial year 2021-22, bank credit is seen growing 400-500 basis points (bps) higher at 9-10 per cent, as the country’s economy recovers, supported by budgetary stimulants and measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Crisil report had said.

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BFSI stock slips; Nifty and Sensex closes lower too, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The benchmark index Sensex fell over 600 points in intraday trade while Nifty touched 14,969 on the downside. Bank and financial stocks such as ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and SBI were among the top laggards in the 30-share pack Sensex.

At close, the Sensex was down 0.95% at 50,792.08, while Nifty was down 0.95% at 15,031. Nifty PSU Bank Index fell 1 percent dragged by the Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank. BSE Bankex also ended lower at 39,995 losing 1.28%.

Nifty Bank Index ended at 34,496 down -1.23%. Amongst the top Losers were- ICICI Bank at Rs 612 ending below -2.04% followed by SBI at Rs 381 with -1.70%, Induslnd Bank at Rs 1,022 (-1.65%), Kotak Mahindra Bank at Rs 1,935 (-1.47%), Axis Bank at Rs 750 (-1.33%). While all the major indices traded in red, RBL Bank and IDFC First Bank managed to stay in the green.

Nifty Financial Services ended at 16,506 Lower by -1.10%. Amongst the biggest losers were Indiabulls Hsg Rs 224 by -2.67% followed by Cholamandalam at Rs 531 (-1.41%), HDFC at Rs 2,568 (-1.22%), Bajaj Finserv at Rs 9,934 (-0.57%).

Other key takeaways

RBI to conduct OMO for sale and purchase of govt securities
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 10 announced it will purchase and sell Government of India dated securities for Rs 10,000 crore each via an open market operation (OMO) on March 18.

“The Reserve Bank has decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of Government securities under open market operations (OMO) for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore each on March 18, 2021,” the central bank said.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank to launch IPO on March 17
Suryoday Small Finance Bank will open its initial public offering of 1,90,93,070 equity shares on March 17 with a price band of Rs 303-305 per share. The issue will close on March 19.

The anchor book subscription (if any) will open for a day on March 16. The offer consists of a fresh issue of 81.50 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of 1,09,43,070 equity shares by existing shareholders.

Rupee Updates
Indian rupee erased some of the intraday gains but ended higher by 13 paise at 72.81 per dollar, amid selling saw in the domestic equity market. It opened 25 paise higher at 72.66 per dollar against Wednesday’s close of 72.91 and traded in the range of 72.62-72.85.

On March 10, the domestic unit ended flat at 72.91 per dollar versus the previous close of 72.93. On Thursday the currency market was shut on account of Mahashivratri.

Wall Street closes on higher mark
The S&P 500 and the Dow closed at all-time highs on Thursday as worries about rising inflation subsided, while a bigger-than-expected fall in weekly jobless claims and the signing of a massive stimulus bill reinforced expectations of a strong economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.57 points, or 0.58%, to 32,485.59, the S&P 500 gained 40.53 points, or 1.04%, to 3,939.34 and the Nasdaq Composite added 329.84 points, or 2.52%, to 13,398.67



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ICICI Bank drops home loan rate to 6.7%

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or loans above Rs 75 lakh, ICICI Bank is charging a rate of 6.75% or more. Much like SBI, ICICI Bank too is offering the revised rates till March 31.

Amid a rate war in the home loan space, private sector lender ICICI Bank on Friday announced a reduction in interest rates to 6.7% for loans of up to Rs 75 lakh. This is the lowest rate in 10 years at the bank and matches that of State Bank of India (SBI) which, on Monday, lowered the rate for borrowers with high credit scores. For loans above Rs 75 lakh, ICICI Bank is charging a rate of 6.75% or more. Much like SBI, ICICI Bank too is offering the revised rates till March 31.

The fight for market share in the home loan segment isn’t surprising given tepid demand from industry for credit. While Kotak Mahindra Bank lowered its starting home loan rate to 6.65%, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) said it would charge rates starting at 6.75% for loans of any amount. Analysts believe the cut in rates is temporary and timed to attract customers while the benefit from the cuts in stamp duty are available. However, if demand from companies remains week in the quarters ahead, banks might be compelled to under-cut each other to grow market share, they point out.

SBI chairman Dinesh Khara recently observed the bank intends to grow the home loan portfolio aggressively, doubling it to Rs 10 lakh crore in the next five years.

As at most banks, home loan interest rates at ICICI Bank vary on the basis of various parameters such as bureau scores, profile of customers and customer segments, among others.

Ravi Narayanan, head- secured assets, ICICI Bank, said demand from consumers wanting to buy homes to live in had seen a resurgence over the last few months. “We believe that with our completely digitised home loan process, including instant sanction for customers of any bank, everybody will find it immensely convenient to avail a home loan with us,”Naryanan said. ICICI Bank’s mortgage portfolio crossed the Rs 2-lakh-crore-mark in November 2020 and disbursements increased in Q3FY21 over Q2FY21. It now sources nearly one-third of new home loans digitally.The growth in the mortgage portfolio was also aided by the bank’s expansion of its footprint across the country, including tier 2, 3 and 4 cities.

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ICICI Bank cuts home loan rate to 6.7%

Banking & Finance

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ICICI Bank on Friday reduced home loan interest rate to 6.7 per cent.

The revised interest rate, which is the lowest in 10 years by the private sector lender, will be effective from March 5.

“Customers can avail of this interest rate for home loans up to ₹75 lakh. For loans above Rs 75 lakh, interest rates are pegged at 6.75 per cent onwards,” ICICI Bank said in a statement, adding that the revised rates will be available till March 31, 2021.

The bank is the latest to reduce home loan rates in recent days, following State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Housing Development Finance Corporation.

“We see resurgence in demand from consumers, who want to buy homes for their own consumption, in the past few months,” said Ravi Narayanan, Head, Secured Assets, ICICI Bank.

In its third quarter results, the bank had said that its mortgage disbursements increased in the quarter over the second quarter of 2020-21 and had touched an all time monthly high in December.

Earlier, in November, the bank had become the first private sector lender in the country to cross the ₹2 lakh crore mark in mortgage loan portfolio.

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ICICI Bank targeting to serve 20 lakh customers of rival banks through app, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Private sector lender ICICI Bank on Thursday said 10 lakh customers of rival banks are using its mobile application for transactions. The lender expects the number of such customers, who are using the app for instant UPI-based payments and recharges, to double in the next three months, the company said in a statement.

Its head of digital channels and partnership Bijith Bhaskar said the bank is using NPCI’s interoperable infrastructure to serve customers of other banks as well through its app called “imobile pay“.

Users like the ‘Pay to Contacts’ feature the most. The functionality enables users to send money either to a mobile number or a UPI ID of their friends/contacts, to any payment app or a digital wallet, it said.

Metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai have contributed to the additions, while other large cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Indore, Ludhiana, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Agra, Kochi and Chandigarh have also contributed significantly to the growth of the number of users, it said.



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