Tag: united bank of india

Banking… Not without a glitch?, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Not just server down, but ‘technical glitches’ seems to have become a common term for banks.

The number of glitches in the online banking space seems to be rising, with recent cases surprising everyone – large sums being transferred to wrong bank accounts.

So far, two cases from Bihar have actually uncovered the system issues in the banking system.

A glitch that credited funds

A private tutor in Khagaria was erroneously credited Rs 5.5 lakh in his bank account by the South Bihar Gramin Bank, and two school students in Katihar were credited Rs 960 crore overnight by the North Bihar Gramin Bank.

The tutor has been arrested for not returning the money, according to The Hindu, while the incident that happened with the two school students is under investigation.

For the Katihar case, the bank’s branch manager said that there was some glitch in the computerised system of sending money. The amount was visible in their statements but the actual money wasn’t in their account. For the Khagaria case, however, the money was credited and the tutor claimed that he did not return the money because it was government relief sent to him.

The two incidents have caused havoc, making villagers run to ATMs to check if they too had been struck with such luck, according to NDTV. But, so far, only two such incidents have been reported.

This is, however, not the first time such a ‘glitch’ has happened.

Banking... Not without a glitch?

Glitches by Citi, HDFC, PNB

In February, one of the world’s largest banks – Citibank – accidentally transferred $900 million to cosmetic company Revlon’s lenders. Citi was serving as the administrative agent or loan agent between Revlon, the embattled cosmetics company, and its creditors.

The bank accidentally paid those lenders much more than it had to. The bank had to credit only $8 million, but ended up transferring $900 million, according to reports.

The US District Court judge termed this to be the “biggest blunder in banking history”, after the bank had moved the court, because it still had not received $500 million from the accidental transfer.

Apart from erroneous transfers, there have been other incidents of continuous technical glitches to an extent that the Reserve Bank of India banned a top private bank from issuing new credit cards – the bank’s best seller.

HDFC Bank was the bank that was banned for eight months from issuing new credit cards.

The RBI had taken this step after customers faced multiple glitches in the bank’s internet and mobile banking systems for over two years.

On Friday, Punjab National Bank‘s Twitter account was seen flooded with complaints from several customers. They raised concerns over the technical glitches they have been facing throughout this week.

Below are two of the many instances from PNB’s Twitter account –

“Dear customer, we regret the inconvenience caused to you. Our App service is facing glitches due to some technical difficulty. However, our team is working on the same and it will be resolved soon.” – has been the bank’s standard reply to all such complaints.

Glitches in the PNBONE mobile application have been rising. This could be because of the newly built app “PNBONE” after the mega merger of Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank of India with Punjab National Bank, sources, who did not wish to be named, said, adding that the tech team is looking to help resolve all the issues for a better banking experience.

At times, customers face technical glitches when banks go for maintenance activities. Failed transactions and reconciliation takes its own time and customers have no choice than waiting and hoping for the seamless service.

Check out our entire coverage on banking sector here



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Punjab National Bank posts ₹586 crore profit in Q4, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank reported a net profit of Rs 586 crore for quarter ended March 2021 as compared to a loss of Rs 697 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. For the full year, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 2,022 crore compared to Rs 336 crore in corresponding quarter last year.

The amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India came into effect on 1st April 2020 and figures are not comparable. If the audited numbers of three banks were aggregated the loss for the third quarter in the previous year would stand at Rs 10,127 crore while the full-year loss would have been Rs 8,311 crore.

Announcing the results, the bank’s MD CH SS Mallikarjuna Rao said the bank ended the year with a deposit of Rs 11,06,332 crore while advances rose to 6,74,.230 crore.

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RBI to conduct customer satisfaction survey on bank mergers, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to conduct a customer satisfaction survey to find out the impact of the recent mergers of state-owned banks on banking services being availed by individuals.

Among other things, the respondents will be asked whether the merger was positive from the point of customer services. The choice before the customer will be to tick one of the following options — strongly agree; agree; neutral; disagree; or strongly disagree.

The proposed survey will cover a total of 20,000 respondents from 21 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. In all, there will be 22 questions.

Of the 22, a set of four questions has been drafted separately for assessing customer service and grievance redress issues of customers of branches of banks that have been merged with other banks in the year 2019 and 2020.

Among public sector banks, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda; Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank with Indian Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India.

Also, Lakshmi Vilas Bank was merged with DBS Bank.

The questions related to mergers are: ‘I did not face any problem in availing services after the merger’; ‘I faced problems in the following product(s)/service(s)/area(s)’; and ‘The nature of problem I faced in the product(s)/service(s)/area(s)’.

The participants will also be asked: “overall, the merger has been positive from customer service perspective”; and options against this are ‘strongly agree’; ‘agree’; ‘neutral’; ‘disagree’; and ‘strongly disagree’.

While inviting quotations for conducting the ‘Bank Customers’ Satisfaction Survey’ from survey agencies, the central bank said the approved vendor will be required to conduct interview over phone with recording of customers of bank branches falling in identified states.

The RBI will provide the contact number of the customers of bank branches selected from the 21 states. The selected agency will have to complete the survey work and submit the report to the RBI by June 22, 2021.

Request for quotations (RFQ) document said the questions have been framed to capture the customer’s experience and perception of the grievance redress mechanism of his/her bank. It is also for awareness about the grievance redressal mechanism of the bank and the banking ombudsman.



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All you need to know about the impact of PSU bank merger on the customers, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Eight PSU Banks namely Vijaya Bank, Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank of India,Allahabad Bank and Dena Bank will see merger coming into effect from April 1, 2021. Customers of any of the above listed banks should know about the following changes and the steps they will have to take for the same.

1. Account number:
In case of the past bank mergers there was no change in the account number for the bank customers say for in the case of Union Bank of India, only the IFSC code changed. Also, there have been known instances where the bank has checked with the entity with which you have set the electronic clearing settlement (ECS) such as for SIP, utility bill payment etc. for change in the ECS i.e. matched their ECS for the old ECS.

The transition in the case of Bank of Baroda has resulted in a change in the account number for customers. What you need to do in respect of bank account number, IFSC and MICR: Here the onus shall be on the bank customer to modify or update previously given ECS mandates and also update such details with various entities including tax department, EPFO, insurers or brokers for that matter.

2. Cheque books:
From 1 April, the cheque books of the banks getting merged will not be valid. New cheque books from the anchor banks will be provided. For example, the cheque books of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will be valid only until 31 March. The two banks are merged with Punjab National Bank.

Some banks could also offer more time to customers as the RBI has allowed some banks to continue with the old cheque books for another quarter or two. For example, Syndicate Bank customers can use their cheque books until 30 June. Customers will need to track their banks’ developments to know when they can continue using the cheque books.

3. Fixed Deposits & Loans:
These deposits are in fact contracts for some predefined period and any change in structure of the bank will not result in any interest change for you. Likewise, you can continue with the deposit until maturity at the same rate, irrespective of whether the deposit rate at the merged entity is lower or higher.

Similar to FD contracts, home loan is also an agreement between the borrower and lender and in the event of bank merger there shall be no change on the previously stipulated terms. Over the past one year, the rates of the merging bank and the anchor bank have converged to a common ‘external benchmark lending rate’ (EBLR). In case there is a review clause in loan term then the rate of interest of the acquiring or anchor bank may apply.

4. Money transfer:
The Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition Code (MICR) will change for some banks and will remain the same for others. For instance, Union Bank of India, the account number has not changed Only the IFSC code has changed. Every bank migration is different.

Customers will again need to check with their bank on what has changed and what has not. Accordingly, they will need to change their ECS instructions for loans and other payments such as life insurance and mutual fund investments



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PSB mergers increase auditor workload, seek more hands, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Banking & Finance

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Auditors at several state-owned banks have asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase the number of agencies empanelled to conduct audits citing unprecedented increase in workload and number of certificates to be issued by statutory central and branch auditors in light of the merger of several state-run banks last year, according to an ET report.

Auditors have argued that increasing the manpower for inspecting bank books is important to maintain the quality of the exercise.
“The huge work allocated to statutory central auditors and statutory branch auditors in respect of various state-run banks requires huge manpower deployment of partners and paid chartered accountants. This itself justifies appointing a minimum of six such auditors,” said Prakash Sharma, vice chairman, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), according to the report.

Quality aspect

Sharma said the rise in services of banks and their branch count, especially for merged banks, requires enhancing the number of auditors to ensure good quality inspections.

As per the present rules, the ICAI prepares a list of eligible auditors and audit firms, subject to the regulator’s scrutiny. RBI forwards the final list of all eligible auditors to PSBs for selection.

The merger

Under the government’s mega consolidation plan, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India merged into Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India; and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.

Officers have also requested the RBI to consider specifying the minimum number of auditors to be appointed rather than leaving the choice to banks.

They have also sought a revision of audit fees given the rise in the scope of the audit, enhanced compliance requirements, security risks, new legislations, and the ever-changing policy landscape.

Intensive and time-consuming

Abhinav Sharma, partner, AVG & Associates, said that increasing regulatory oversight has already made branch-level audits intensive and time-consuming.

“Hence, post-merger of PSBs, audit completion of a higher number of branches will pose a challenge. For instance, PNB is working with five statutory auditors despite having the approval of six prior to the merger,” Sharma said.
Auditors have also sought proportionate increase in number of auditors.



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PNB: IT integration of erstwhile UBI completed

Banking & Finance

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Punjab National Bank (PNB), country’s second largest public sector bank, has now completed the IT integration of all branches of erstwhile United Bank of India (UBI).

This is in continuation to the IT integration of all branches of erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce, undertaken in November 2020.

With this PNB has concluded the integration and migration of databases of both banks, which brings all the customers on the common platform and enable them to transact seamlessly across bank’s network as well as use PNB’s digital banking platforms like Internet Banking and Mobile Banking.

The entire migration has been completed without effecting any change in customers account numbers, debit cards or Net Banking credentials, a PNB release said.

‘Minimal disruption’

PNB has completed this migration activity with minimal disruption and now all customers will be able to enjoy an array of services on its wider network of branches, ATMs and robust digital channels, release added.It may be recalled that the Centre had with effect from April 1 this year merged Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with PNB in a three-way amalgamation.

CH.S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao, Managing Director & CEO, PNB said in a statement: “This is an important milestone for all of us displaying our unflinching commitment to the customers of PNB 2.0. This migration brings all our customers on a singular platform and provides opportunity for seamless engagement. We shall continue to provide state-of-the-art services to all our customers.”

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