Dewan Housing Finance Ltd. (DHFL) is aiming to reach out to its customers right at their door step. The leading housing finance provider has come up with this new scheme called ‘DHFL Express Home Loans on Wheels'.

The scheme aims to deliver home loans to customers at their homes itself which would in turn diminish undue hassles of the borrower.

The scheme was inaugurated by Mr Mudit Bhatnagar, Head Marketing and International Business at Kasargod in...

The shadows of surging property prices and interest rates do not seem to have been successful in darkening the sentiments of the home buyer. Data revealed by National Housing Bank and Reserve Bank of India suggests the continuing home buying behavior of customers following the consistent rise in number of home loans getting sanctioned through banks as well as housing finance companies (HFCs).

The current fiscal so far has seen a total home loan...

Going by Reserve Bank of India's advice, lending majors, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have announced complete waiver of prepayment penalty in case of home loans.

With the largest lenders taking the step in this regard, other banks are expected to follow the trend.

Housing finance companies (HFCs), under the umbrella body called National Housing Bank (NHB) have already taken this step.

NHB had issued a directive under which all HFCs had to...

The present scenario is an indicative that private sector banks are outruling their public sector peers in terms of asset quality. Rising level of non performing assets (NPA) has been hitting hard on public sector banks (PSBs) since quite some time now.

In the second quarter of this fiscal, the largest lender of the country, State Bank of India posted a 12% dip in net profits and a consecutive surge in NPA level.

On the contrary,...

Public sector lender State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) has announced a rise in its lending rates by as much as 50 bps.

Followiung the revision, the base rate of the bank now stands at 10.50% while the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) figures at 15.25%.

The revised rates will come into effect from today, November 14, 2011.

Conservative borrowers have a reason to rejoice now. The finance ministry has recently notified that the investment limit on the Public Provident Fund (PPF) has been raised to Rs 1 lakh annually from Rs 70,000 earlier.

The interest rate for PPF has also been given a boost up from 8% earlier to 8.6% now.

The dates from which the new rules and rates would get applicable is yet to be disclosed by the ministry.

Also, small savings schemes...

Regulator Reserve Bank of India has notified that the interest subvention scheme by 1% on home loans amounting till Rs 10 lakh will be extended till March 31, 2012.

RBI further notified that for loans which have already been approved or disbursed between the period from October 01, 2009 to March 31, 2011, old loan rules and rates would apply and not the new one.

For all new loans after this period, the revised rules would...

Banks this time are on a drive to hire engineering graduates on a large scale. The main drive behind this idea of banks has been the major focus that they are presently lending on acquisition and retaining of young customer base.

It has been estimated by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) around 10-20% of the total manpower of banks should comprise of technology graduates or engineers.

"Banks will need to focus...

Rising interest rates have been one of the biggest concerns worrying the borrower in present times. Continuous hike in policy rates by Reserve Bank of India and corresponding rise in interest rates of loans has been showering its adversity especially on the home loan borrower for whom the repayment tenor is already large and rise in equated monthly installments (EMIs) add up to the crunch.

But is interest rate the only factor guarding the selection...

In this scenario of rising interest rates, banks fear themselves against increasing exposure to credit risk. In this regard, deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, Mr Anand Sinha has suggested that it would be in the benefit of banks to bring out more number of long term fixed rate instruments which would aid in hedging them from credit risk.

Rising interest rates of loans offered by banks especially home loans following the corresponding shoot...

The Central Information Commission has directed banks to make complete disclosure of all details in case of loan settlements with defaulters.

The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India had denied to accept the proposal saying that it would be against Right to Information Act. SBI defended its stand saying that disclosure would stand against commercial confidence and respect towards not sharing of personal information of defaulters.

A request regarding disclosure had been put...

Public sector lender Bank of India is aiming to focus primarily on growing its retail banking operations. The bank plans to do so by setting up around 20 retail centers all over the country.

"We are looking at branch hub-and-spokes and retail processing centres closely," Mr N. Seshadri, Executive Director, Bank of India said.

"We plan to take the entire service part of operations to the back office," said Mr Seshadri while mentioning that a...

The interstate delegation of women has set the demand of being given the stature of being considered under priority sector lending.

The leader of the delegation, Ms Brinda Karat recently met governor of Reserve Bank of India, Mr D Subbarao in order to discuss the issue of increasing banking amenities being offered to women driven self help groups (SHGs).

Also, demand for regulation of microfinance institutions (MFIs) which are in deep turmoil was placed before the apex...

Non banking finance company (NBFC), GE Capital is aiming for ramping up its home loan business on priority basis now. It has set a target of achieving growth in the range of 300-400% per year for the upcoming 3-4 years.

The company is talking out to large number of organizations with the motive of inking deals.

The company which had earlier attempted to walk out of the mortgage market, now feels that there is ample growth...

The recurring rise in home loan rates has been hitting the borrower hard since some time now. The common man has been forced to succumb to the pressure and put many of his other financial plans on the back seat as of now.

Many borrowers are facing a similar problem that the initial estimations in terms of loan repayment which they had made while taking the loan have now exceeded way further thereby bringing the...

The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India has set up an ambitious target of exploring its offshore business opportunities even further. In order to increase its penetration level abroad, the lender has planned to set up 100 new overseas branches in coming two years time.

Half of the target number of branches are aimed to be opened by end of this fiscal only by the bank, said Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri.

The total...

Banking and monetary regulator Reserve Bank of India has said that it is likely that prepayment penalty on floating rate home loans would be waived off by the upcoming month.

With prepayment penalty waiver setting in, home loan borrowers will have a reason to smile.

"We will pursue with the banks to do this [ending prepayment penalties] as soon as possible. But should the system require some time to adjust to this, we are prepared to...

Public sector lender Vijaya Bank had organised a home loan carnival or mela in Mangalore on the 29th and 30th of October.

The loan mela was inaugurated by Director of the bank, Mr B Ibrahim.

According to deputy manager of the bank, Mr Sudhakar Shetty M., on the basis of income of the borrower, loans were sanctioned on the spot too.

Also, processing fees was reduced by as much as 50% on new loans.

National Housing Bank, the umbrella body governing all housing finance companies has finally come up with directives which prevent lenders from charging penalty to customers for pre closure of housing loans, subject to conditions.

Prepayment of a home loan in case of a floating rate loan can be done through any source without attracting penalty by the customer. On the other hand a fixed rate home loan can be preclosed by the customer using...

Private sector lender Federal Bank is on a branch expansion spree. The lender has set up 66 new branches as well as 34 ATMs all over the country.

The step by the bank marks the celebration of Founders Day by the bank.

According to MD and CEO of the bank, Mr Shyam Srinivasan, 28 branches out of the total 66 have been set up in Kerala and the remaining 38 are located in different parts of...