Tag: sbi

BSBDA customers need not pay any charges for digital transactions: SBI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday emphasised that its Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) customers do not pay any charges for digital transactions including transactions using Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and RuPay debit cards.

India’s largest bank stressed that it has made all digital transactions free to its customers with effect from January 1, 2020. Further, it has also waived fees on SMS services and on maintenance of minimum balance for all its Savings Bank account holders.

This assertion comes in the wake of Professor Ashish Das, Department of Mathematics, IIT-Bombay, alleging in his technical report that there had been a systematic breach in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations when the Bank imposed charges on BSBDA customers who transacted digitally.

Das claimed that unlike any other bank in India, SBI charged at the rate of ₹17.70 for every debit transaction beyond four a month since June 1, 2017.

The Professor averred that though SBI has stopped charging now, however, during April 2017 to September 2020, it collected over ₹254 crore towards at least 14 crore UPI/ RuPay transactions by charging ₹17.70 for each of these transactions done by the BSBDA customers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

Referring to a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) advisory on August 30, 2020, asking Banks to refund charges collected, if any, on or after January 1, 2020, on digital transactions and not to impose charges on such future transactions, SBI said it has refunded charges of ₹90.20 crores to the customers recovered during January 1 to September 14, 2020, period.

“Bank is only charging beyond four free cash withdrawals in the Business Correspondent (BC) channel, while there are no charges if digital channels are used. The objective is to promote digital transactions towards a ‘less cash’ economy,” SBI said in a statement.

SBI noted that it introduced charges beyond first four withdrawals in BSBD accounts in the BC channel with effect from June 15, 2016, in line with the RBI guidelines with prior intimation to the customers.

The Bank observed that a BSBD customer normally would not need to make more than four withdrawals in a month, and even if required, the same could be done from the branch without any cost.

SBI said it has the large base of over 16 crore BSBD accounts out of which Financial Inclusion (FI) customer base is around 14 crore.

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , ,

SBI dual lists $650 million green bonds on India INX, Luxembourg Stock Exchange

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, on Monday dual listed its $650 million green bonds simultaneously on the India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). This dual listing is in line with this year’s topic of World Investor Week, ‘Sustainable Finance’, as indicated by the regulatory body International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

India INX, which is BSE’s international arm, on Friday had announced its memorandum of understanding with Luxembourg Stock Exchange for co-operation in financial services industry, maintenance of orderly markets in securities respective country, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green finance in the local market. This dual listing of green bonds is the first step towards this collaborated effort.

Commenting on the dual listing, V Balasubramaniam, MD and CEO, India INX, said, “With this dual listing, we have taken the first step towards our association with LuxSE with a mutual goal of deeply benefiting the investors and issuers at large. On this special occasion of World Investor Week, we are focusing on the theme of sustainable finance and this listing of green bonds by SBI is very important move towards that goal.”

Automatic qualification

He said that India INX will work towards establishing a green corridor with Luxembourg to enable Indian Issuers to automatically qualify for dual listing with LuxSE to get investors from Europe and the globe. “India INX has now emerged as the leading bond listing venue with over $33 billion dollars listing,” he added.

Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, IFSCA, said, “The dual listing of SBI bonds is an important step for IFSCA in demonstrating regulatory convergence with the leading international markets of Luxembourg, which has the largest green bond listings in the world. This will pave way for Indian and European issuers to explore IFSC as a hub for issuance of green and sustainable bonds. On the occasion of World Investor week, themed around sustainable finance, the dual listing will also enhance international investors’ confidence in sustainable products listed at IFSC.”

Ashwini Kumar Tewari, Managing Director of SBI, said, “State Bank has raised $800 million in the green bond market so far. The listing of green bond with LuxSE will open up new avenues for market development and fund raising opportunities in the green bond space.”

Tewari highlighted that SBI has been the first public sector bank in India to publish its sustainability report as per Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. In 2019, India INX had unveiled GSM Green, a platform for fund raising and trading in green, social and sustainable bonds exclusively. The platform is established as per ICMA’s Green Bond Principles and Climate Bonds Initiative which provides an ideal platform for global investors to invest.

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , ,

SBI warns against fraudulent customer care numbers, gives instructions to avoid getting scammed, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


If you are a State Bank of India (SBI) account holder, then it is important for you to check the correct customer care number to avoid getting scammed.

“Beware of fraudulent customer care numbers. Please refer to the official website of SBI for correct customer care numbers. Refrain from sharing confidential banking information with anyone,” said the bank via a tweet on its official Twitter handle.

This is not the first time that the bank has issued such advice to its customers. Earlier, there have been instances where customers have been conned by calling the customer care number mentioned on a google search for the bank, on food delivery apps etc.Along with the tweet, the bank has also posted an instructional video online, guiding customers on how they can avoid getting conned.

As per the video, while calling the customer care centre, the account holder should not share personal details i.e. bank account number, debit card details, CVV, One-time password (OTP), ATM PIN etc. The bank also sends SMS to its customers reminding them that SBI never asks for confidential information such as PIN and OTP from customers. Any such calls can be made only by a fraudster. Please do not share personal info.

Further, the customer care numbers should be verified from the bank’s official website before making a call.

If you have received such calls or emails, then such frauds can be reported to the bank by sending an email at report.phishing@sbi.co.in or by calling the cybercrime helpline number.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

SBI yet to refund Rs 164 cr undue fee charged from Jan Dhan a/c holders, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


State Bank of India (SBI) is yet to return Rs 164 crore of undue fee charged from the account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) towards digital payments during April 2017 and December 2019, a report said.

“On directions from the government, SBI has returned just about Rs 90 crore, thereby withholding the bigger chunk of at least Rs 164 crore with itself,” said the report prepared by IIT-Mumbai.

It said that during April 2017 to September 2020, SBI had collected over Rs 254 crore towards at least 14 crore UPI/ RuPay transactions by charging Rs 17.70 per transactions on BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account) customers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

Queries sent to the country’s largest lender on return of charges levied on debit transactions done by such account holders during the said period of 33 months did not elicit any response.

Since June 1, 2017, unlike any other bank in India, the report said, SBI charged Rs 17.70 for every debit transaction beyond four a month.

Debit transaction means any withdrawal transaction that includes cash withdrawal, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) pre-authorised standing instruction, cheque, etc.

This has adversely impacted the BSBDA customers of SBI who, on the call of the government and RBI, embraced digital means of financial transactions.

“Due to this attitude of SBI and subsequent to RBI remaining noncommittal, in mid-August 2020, the Finance Ministry was approached for addressing the concern.

“The Ministry was prompt in their actions and the CBDT by end-August 2020, advised SBI to refund the charges collected since January 1, 2020 on transactions carried out using the prescribed digital payment modes,” it said.

On August 30, 2020, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) advised banks to refund the charges collected since January 1, 2020 on transactions carried out using the prescribed digital payment modes that include the UPI and the RuPay debit card, and not to impose charges on future transactions carried out through such modes.

In adherence to the CBDT directive, as late as February 17, 2021, SBI initiated refund of Rs 17.70 for the UPI and RuPay debit card digital transactions to the BSBDA customers, the report prepared by Ashish Das, Professor of Statistics said.

Levying of charges on BSBDA is guided by September 2013 RBI guidelines. As per the direction these account holders are ‘allowed more than four withdrawals’ in a month, at the bank’s discretion provided the bank does not charge for the same.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

SBI enters into co-lending agreement with U GRO Capital, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


State Bank of India has entered into a co-lending agreement with U GRO Capital to offer financing solutions to the unserved and underserved MSMEs of the country in line with RBI guidelines.

Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI said, “This collaboration will further enhance our distribution network, as we aim to extend our credit reach to more MSMEs. Such partnerships align with our commitment to accelerate effective and affordable credit to MSMEs in India and contribute to the country’s financial inclusion imperative towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

RBI had issued guidelines on co-lending schemes for banks and NBFCs for Priority Sector Lending to improve the flow of credit to unserved and underserved sectors of the economy and to make funds available to borrowers at an affordable cost.

Follow and connect with us on , Facebook, Linkedin



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , ,

Under co-lending tie-up, SBI and U GRO aim to disburse ₹500 cr to MSMEs by March 2022

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


U GRO Capital, a technology-focused small business lending platform, has entered into a co-lending partnership with the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide credit to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

Through this collaboration, SBI and U GRO aim to disburse up to ₹500 crore by March 2022, U GRO said in a statement.

The agreement has been signed under the alternative option of Reserve Bank of India’s revised co-lending guidelines, which involves post disbursal takeover of the bank’s share in the loan on a back-to-back basis.

“This arrangement will leverage SBI’s prowess on the liability side and U GRO Capital’s origination and distinctive underwriting engine capabilities on the assets side,” the company said, adding it also has co-lending partnerships with Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank.

U GRO lends to SMEs in eight sectors — Healthcare, Education, Chemicals, Food Processing / FMCG, Hospitality, Electrical Equipment and Components, Auto Components, Light Engineering.

Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, SBI, said, “Such partnerships align with our commitment to accelerate effective and affordable credit to MSMEs in India and contribute to the country’s financial inclusion imperative towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, U GRO Capital, observed that India’s lending landscape for NBFCs is transitioning. The next decade is expected to be all about collaboration between large banks and niche NBFCs / FinTech wherein ‘Lending as a Service’ would become the prominent force.

[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , ,

Report, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Despite the overall increase in the formalisation of the economy in the past five-six years, the key component of an informal economy — cash in circulation (CIC) as a percentage of GDP — has continued to rise year after year, barring in the year of note ban in 2016 when it fell to 8.7 per cent, according to a report. According to the report by SBI Research, almost 80 per cent of the economy has been formalised in the past five years with every aspect of the non-cash component of the economy including agri credit, gaining traction.

In a detailed report on Monday, SBI Research said that after dipping to 8.7 per cent of GDP in 2016 (after the note-ban), cash in circulation (CIC) as a percentage of GDP has climbed again to 13.1 per cent so far this fiscal. It is only marginally down from the peak of 14.5 per cent in FY21, which could be because of the pandemic-driven sense of insecurity and uncertainties.

During FY08-FY10, when the economy was on a scorching growth rate, sniffing at almost double-digits growth, the CIC trended at 12.1, 12.5 and 12.4 per cent, respectively. The same trend continued with minor variations in the next five years also peaking at 12.4 per cent in FY11 and falling to 11.4 per cent in FY15, according to the SBI report pencilled by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, its group chief economic adviser.

Ghosh attributes the high 14.5 per cent CIC in FY21 to the collapse of the economy due to the pandemic, wherein the GDP reported the worst contraction of 7.3 per cent.

If the circumstances were normal, nominal GDP growth in FY21 and FY22 would have been much higher and as a result, CIC would also have followed the trend as witnessed pre-note ban.

According to him, without the pandemic-induced GDP collapse, the CIC-GDP ratio would have been at 12.7 per cent as against 12.4 per cent in FY11 as because of the pandemic, people might have held as much as Rs 3.3 lakh crore in cash as a precaution.

Coming to digital transactions, 3.5 billion transactions worth Rs 6.3 lakh crore were recorded through UPI in October 2021, which is 100 per cent more than the same period last month and in terms of transaction value, it is 103 per cent more than October 2020.

Data also show that UPI transactions have jumped 69 times since 2017, while debit card transactions have stagnated indicating people preference and shift to UPI.

UPI transactions have jumped 69 times in the past four years — from Rs 1,700 crore in 2017 to Rs 15,100 crore in 2018 to Rs 29,900 crore in 2019, to Rs 57,100 crore in 2020 to Rs 1,17,100 crore so far in 2021.

Similarly, credit card spends rose manifold between 2012, when it was only Rs 1,500 crore, and 2018 when it touched Rs 10,100 crore. It then steadily added 30 per cent more in two years to cross Rs 13,000 crore and peaked at Rs 13,500 crore in 2020, according to the report.

It added that the credit card spends are on course to set a record this year as already YTD (year-to-date), it has reached Rs 13,300 crore, according to the report.

Again, debit card spends also continued to gain traction with 2012 seeing Rs 12,100 crore of transactions, which climbed to Rs 38,800 crore in 2016 but declined steeply in 2017 to Rs 15,600 crore. It more that doubled the next year to Rs 32,700 crore and peaked at Rs 56,300 crore in 2019 and again steeply fell to Rs 13,800 crore in 2020 and continued to head southwards in 2021 at Rs 9,700 crore, the report said.

Ghosh also noted that tax as percentage of GDP has also jumped since FY16 but declined after FY19, reflecting the changes in the Budget of 2019. The tax-GDP ratio has jumped in the pandemic year again reflecting formalisation efforts.

The tax-GDP ratio jumped from 10.5 per cent in FY16 to 11 per cent in FY19 but retreated since then, as the exemption limit was raised to Rs 5 lakh in the Budget FY20.

On the macrofront, the economy formalised much larger: The share of the informal sector GVA to total GVA for FY18 stood at 52.4 per cent. Employing this methodology (except for agricultrue and allied activities), the informal economy is possibly only around 15-20 per cent of the formal GDP, according to the report.

Even agriculture formalised if the numbers of Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) are any indication. In the past three-four years, the per-card outstanding has increased from Rs 96,578 in FY18 to Rs 1,67,416 in FY22, an increase of Rs 70,838, that translates into agri credit formalisation at Rs 4.6 lakh crore and there are 6.5 crore KCCs.

According to the GST portal, between August 2018 and March 2021, the number of new MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) incorporated stood at 499.4 lakh and came under GST.



[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 , , , , ,

SBI Report, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


People may be holding as much as Rs. 3.3 lakh crores in cash for emergency purposes due to the Covid related dislocation in their income expectations, estimates SBI. The rise in cash to GDP ratio may be misleading due to this factor. If one adjusts for the emergency, the cash to GDP ratio may be lower than the pre-demonetisation level.

“Our estimate also shows that because of the pandemic people may have been holding as much as Rs 3.3 lakh crores in cash for precautionary motive beginning FY21″ said SBI Research team’s report titled “A Guide to Formalisation of Economy since FY18”.It adds that “If we adjust for such currency transactions, the currency to GDP ratio for pure payment purposes may have actually declined in FY21 compared to earlier years.”

The formalization efforts are bearing major fruit in terms of currency /GDP ratio. The research report by the country’s largest lender estimates that without pandemic GDP collapse, CIC/GDP ratio would have been 12.7% in FY21, as against 12.4% in FY11.

Indian consumers are migrating to high end technology platforms like UPI- Unified payments interface- that does not require the intervention of a POS or a point of sale machine and factor authentications: UPI transactions have jumped 70 times in last 4 years.

Latest currency in circulation data reveals that it has remained constant over the previous year even as record purchases happened during Diwali at Rs 1.25 lakh crores. The latest RBI data show that currency in circulation rose Rs 43,892 crore during the festival weekend, almost the same as the previous year’s Diwali week when the festival spends were lacklustre. “This happened for the first time since 2014” said S K Ghosh, SBI’s group chief economic advisor, who has authored the report.

“Indian consumers now prefer convenience in payments through the click of a button. The vast quantity of information that is produced as a passive by-product of the use of such UPI transactions holds a great promise as a transformative resource for real time policy and evidence based policy making” Ghosh said.

As this would need use of huge swaths of data and use of artificial intellegence by banks, the report recommends scaling up of large investment in cloud platforms by banks. “This might also necessitate regulatory interventions of both Central Banks and Government so that database can be harnessed and stored and also used for real time policy making” Ghosh said.



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

HC deplores “administrative arrogance” of SBI officials, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Chennai, The Madras High Court has deplored the “administrative arrogance” on the part of the officials of the leading premier public sector bank State Bank of India towards its customers. What prompted Justice S M Subramaniam, who slammed the bank officials, was a statement of the officials that the customers (in this case the stamp vendors) are at liberty to approach any other bank for their transactions.

“The above statement in the counter filed by the State Bank of India is to be construed as an irresponsible one. The SBI is a public sector bank and the authorities are the public servants. The petitioners are depositing cash in the government accounts on behalf of the government through Treasury Challans issued to them.”

“The statement portrays the ‘administrative arrogance’ on the part of the authorities in exercise of their powers and the tenor of the statement is a threat to the public administration, as the stamp vendors have no option but to deposit money only in government accounts at SBI branches,” the judge said and directed its Assistant General Manager to initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings by conducting an enquiry and find out on what circumstances such statements were allowed to be made in the counter affidavit filed before the High Court.

The judge also directed the bank’s general manager to sensitize his subordinates in this regard to develop good conduct with the customers and the citizens. These employees/officials must be reminded that from and out of the transactions through the customers and citizens, their salaries are paid. Thus, they are expected to maintain good conduct always and honour the rights of the customers, the judge added.

The judge made the observations while allowing a batch of writ petitions from the stamp vendors, who prayed that the SBI authorities waive off fully the cash handling charges collected from them in pursuant to an official communication from the State Treasury authorities issued in March 3, 2016 and consequently forbear the relevant SBI branches in the City from collecting any cash handling charges forthwith from the petitioners for purchase of stamp papers.

The judge declared the collection of cash handling charges from the stamp vendors/petitioners by the SBI as illegal and without any authority and directed it not to do so, while the stamp vendors deposit cash in government accounts through treasury challans.

The highest authority of the SBI was also directed by the judge to communicate this order, along with necessary circular/instructions, to all SBI branches and upload the same in its official website, to enable the citizens to know their rights. PTI COR SA APR APR



[ad_2]

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,
1 2 3 4 … 25