A lot of developments are taking place in the banking space. Many new facilities have been introduced by the banks that have made banking an easier affair. Along with the improved facilities there are a few new penalties that the banks have started to levy in ensure that their margins do not get hurt in the scenario of continuously stiffening competition.

Many banks now levy penalty on duplicate statements or if the number of cash transactions...

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, the associate bank of State Bank of India has launched a new platform to sanction home loan applications online. The process will take around 20 minutes.

For the purpose the interested customers can visit the web site of the bank and can fill the online application form. An automatic eligibility check is then run. If the customer stands well on the ground then a sanction letter and reference number...

It was after 13 consecutive occasions that the Reserve Bank of India kept the policy rates unchanged in the last monetary policy review. The receding inflation rate has strengthened the speculations about deduction in the interest rates in the next policy review.

The Reserve Bank of India adopted to increase the interest rate to rein the rising inflation rates. It took a streak of 13 back-to-back hikes for RBI to witness softening of inflation rates.

The Head...

Indian Bank, a well known public sector lender has got a new Executive Director. Mr. B. Raj Kumar has assumed the positions at the bank from January 1, 2012.

He is succeeding Mr. V. RamaGopal, who retired on December 31st, 2011.

Mr. B. Raj Kumar held the position of General Manager at Andhra Bank, heading the Investments and International Banking Division at Mumbai, before his appointment at Indian Bank.

The Finance Ministry has received complains against the public sector banks indicating their reluctance towards opening accounts especially for the migrant workers. The Ministry has warned the lenders to avoid such a practice.

Government has already softened the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms for these people. Migrant workers and people who belong to financially excluded sections are allowed to open an account after self-certification. They can also open bank account when introduced by another account holder.

A finance ministry...

The six Chief Managers at Karnataka Bank have been promoted to the post of Assistant General Managers. The development was announced by the bank in a release.

Mr. Ranganatha, Mr. Bhaskara Halambi H.R, Mr. Kameshwar M. Bhat, Mr. Shashiraja Rao N, Mr. Venkatakrishna Bhat and Mr. Mahalingeshwara K will soon assume the post of AGM.

Several revisions have been introduced to the family pension and minimum pension by State Bank of India.

As per the revisions, people with pay scale of up to Rs. 7,090 can contribute up to 30% of it towards family pension. However, the sum total of basic and additional family pension can not exceed Rs. 1,799 for a month.

Similarly, the revisions have been introduced for those with a pay in range of Rs. 7091-14,180 and also...

The year 2011, which witnessed robust hike in the lending rates is about to conclude. The expectations are high that in year 2012 the interest rate cycle will reverse and the borrowers will have a breath of relief.

In a bid to control inflation, the Reserve Bank of India adopted the strategy of hiking policy rates which lead to a substantial rise in the lending rates. In the recent monetary policy review the rate were kept unchanged....

Union Bank of India, a public sector lender has initiated lowering of lending rates. It is after a long time that any bank has cut interest rates. Though the base rate has been lowered by only 10 basis points but it will definitely inspire other lenders.

In a statement, the bank said, "Our asset liability committee, in its quarterly review of interest rates, has decided to bring down the base rate by 10 basis points...

A few months ago, there was a hot debate going on about the issuing of banking licenses. Many of the corporate houses were keenly interested to be a part of the banking system but there seems to be no development going on in the direction.

The legislation is yet to be passed and still lies in the pending list. The idea of issuing banking licenses dates back to the year 2004. The continuous delays in the...

Inflation and dip in the economic growth rate are among the major problems that the country is facing at present. To rein inflation the Reserve Bank of India started hiking the policy rates which created problems for the borrowers.

Clearing the stand of apex bank, Mr. D. Subbarao, Governor of RBI said that economic growth and inflation both are required to be balanced. He also said that the bank wants economic growth without any inflation.

He also...

The results of the first Common Written Exam (CWE) for the recruitment of probationary officers were declared last week. Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), which conducted the exam, has announced that the selected candidates will soon receive their score cards.

Mr. M. Balachandran, director of IBPS, said that the scorecards were dispatched by Speed Post. He also announced that the scores can also be checked at the web site of IBPS.

The Head of Research and...

As the demand for home loans has gone up in last few years, a lot of developments have taken place in the sector. The Reserve Bank of India has now instructed banks to not to take mortgage guarantee cover for house loans where Loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is more than 80%.

The 80% mark has been set for the housing loans above Rs. 20 lac. For loans below 20 lac the maximum LTV value can...

The Government has appointed Mr. B. A. Prabhakar as Chairman and Managing Director of public sector lender, Andhra Bank.

At present he is the Executive Director of Bank of India and is likely to take up his new post of responsibility from January 1, 2012.

He will hold this post till August 31, 2013.

The suggestion of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about scrapping the prepayment penalty is now being taken seriously by the banks. This time it is Bank of India, a public sector lender which has scrapped prepayment penalty and is applicable with immediate effect.

The leading lenders in the country, State Bank of India and ICICI bank were the first ones to make a move in this direction. Where SBI scrapped the penalty from both...

The Reserve Bank of India is to announce the mid-quarter monetary policy review today. The subsequent surge in policy rates has been making headlines since quite some time now. The review will thus affirm the anticipations of analysts and market players.

The depreciating value of Indian Rupee against U.S. Dollar and the slowdown in the economic growth are expected to have their impact on the review. Apart from that, inflation which has been on a rise...

Public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Karur Vysya Bank have bagged awards for being the best banks in respective public and private sector banks category this year.

The winners were decided by the jury set by State Forum of Bankers Clubs in Kerala.

The award function will be given out in a function to be held on December 17,2011, said State Forum of Bankers Club President L R R Warrier and General Secretary...

Housing finance major, LIC Housing Finance has decided to launch a new fixed rate home loan scheme for its customers in the coming month, said Chief Executive and Director of the bank, Mr V K Sharma.

"The product is ready. There is a possibility of interest rates going down. We plan to fix interest rate after the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on December 16," Mr Sharma said.

"We strongly feel that there are...

Public sector lender Central Bank of India has announced the waiver of prepayment penalty on its floating rate home loan schemes.

"In deference to Reserve Bank of India's suggestions, the bank has decided to waive penalty on pre payment of all floating rate housing loans irrespective of the source of funds of the borrowers," said the bank.

CMD of the bank, Mr M V Tanksale said that the waiver of this penalty would apply both...

Public sector lender Indian Overseas Bank has announced a hike in its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by as much as 50 bps.

Following the hike, the BPLR of hte bank will now stand at 15.50%.

The decision was taken by the board of the bank on December 03, 2011.

The revision will come into effect immediately.