Private sector lender ING Vysya Bank has booked a 53% in its net profits for the second quarter of this fiscal. The net profits of the bank stood at Rs 115.4 crore as compared to Rs 75.26 crore for the same period in a fiscal prior to this.

The total income of the bank saw a 31.66% hike taking it to Rs 1095.53 crore in Q2 as against Rs 832.05 crore earlier.

"There is some pressure...

Private sector lender Dhanlaxmi Bank is aiming to enhance its home loan biz by rendering maximum focus on the self employed customer segment.

The bank's head of Retail Assets and Credit Card, Mr Arvind Halli said that despite the fact being that self employed class are a riskier customer segment for lending, however, they enhance chances of product cross selling.

He said that the loan to value (LTV) ratio happens to be lower for...

Deeper penetration of banking facilities is a big concern and aim of the finance ministry. In order to give better cushion to its aims, the ministry is considering firmly, the introduction of white label ATMs in the country.

These ATMs would not belong to any bank in particular but will be owned as well as mainatained by independent service providers.

"Such ATMs will help take banking services to remote places," reported sources.

With these ATMs getting set up,...

Public sector lender IDBI Bank has annnounced a dip in interest rates of home loans as part of festival offer.

All existing floating rate home loans of the bank have been given a 25-50 bps dip.

New customers have been offered a new fixed cum floating home loan product by the bank.

As per the new home loan rates, for loans upto Rs 25 lakh, the interest would be 10.75% and 11% for loans...

In yet another dual rate home loan offering to lure the customer at a time when interest rates are spearheading upwards, public sector lender IDBI Bank has also joined the league.

The home loan scheme of hte bank would allow the home buyer to keep his loan fixed for the initial 1-2 years following which the loan would get converted into a floating rate one.

The floating rate loan would have interest rate based on...

Interest rates being on a continuous rise since quite some time, the buying behavior of customers is seen to be taking a backseat in the present times.

The credit deposit ratio of banks for the month of September has experienced a record low in 4 years. The reason behind the figures can be related to current customer psychology of retreating to safe bank deposits when markets seem volatile.

"Deposits are growing since the equities market is a...

Buying a home of choice is every person's dream. But for the common man, the path towards fulfillment of this dream is definitely not a cakewalk. The chase for a dream home is loaded with tension and burden. First burden consists of the need to search a suitable and apt property of choice and secondly comes the burden of arranging finance for buying the property.

A common problem usually faced by borrowers is that many times...

Public sector lender Canara Bank has announced a home loan offer allowing as much as 50 bps discount in interest rates for the loan category.

The special offer which is valid only till January 15 is applicable across all maturity slabs.

The offer will apply to both home as well as home improvement loans.

Processing fees has also been waived for this period.

The bank used to charge an extra 25 bps interest to borrowers who were...

Talks are on everywhere with regulators wanting to do away with prepayment penalty being levied on home loan borrowers for floating rate loans.

Lenders have however showed their dissatisfaction in this regard. Chairman of housing finance major, HDFC, Mr Deepak Parekh has said that with total waiver in prepayment penalty being imposed, serious implications can come up the way of lenders.

"If our lenders are charging us pre-payment charges, why are we not allowed to charge...

In an attempt to benefit its customer base in getting home loans, public sector lender, Vijaya Bank had organized a home loan carnival last weekend in Chennai.

The carnival termed as 'Home Utsav 2011' also came as an event meant to mark the 80th anniversary of the south based lender.

The meet of buyers as well as sellers organized happens to be the first of its kind to be held in Chennai, said Executive Director...

National Housing Bank (NHB) has indicated on soon coming with directives regarding prepayment of home loans by borrowers.

Usually in case the borrower prepays the loan from his own funds, banks do not charge any penalty. The directives the thus meant for the clause when the borrower wishes to prepay by means of borrowing another loan for the same.

NHB which is the umbrella body governing most of the housing finance companies (HFCs) has however...

Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have managed to retain their ratings in the recent ratings given out by credit rating agencies, Moody's and Fitch.

With Moody's recently downgrading the ratings of the largest lender of the country, State Bank of India, the private peers have heaved a sigh of relief with their rating remaining as they were.

ICICI Bank's consistent rating can be attributed to capitalization as well as franchise options...

Public sector lender Canara Bank has set up  a wholesale branch in Bahrain.

Through this branch, the Indian corporations operating in the gulf region would be offered a wide variety of products and services.

Through this branch, the lender also aims to strengthen base for expanding in the Gulf.

“I am delighted that Canara Bank has chosen Bahrain as the location from which to access the...

Private sector lender ING Vysya Bank has announced a hike in its base rate as well as benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by as much as 25 bps.

The revised rates have come to effect from October 01, 2011.

The base rate of the bank has been revised to 10.45% while the BPLR has been raised to 19%, both rates receiving a 25 bps hike.

With the rise in prime lending rates, all retail loans of the...

Public sector lender Corporation Bank has appointed Mr Ajai Kumar as the new Chairman and Managing Director of the bank.

Kumar has joined Corporation Bank from being Executive Director with UCO Bank.

He has taken charge of his post with Corporation Bank from Saturday, 01 October 2011.

He started his banking career with Bank of Baroda in the year 1973.

He has since then worked in different roles with the bank in its domestic as well as...

Private sector lender Axis Bank has introduced a completely fixed interest rate home loan scheme for the extremely conservative class of home buyers.

Borrowers who want to hedge themselves in totality from market fluctutations in interest rates can actually feel relieved with this scheme.

As its name suggests, 'NISHCHINT' - the life time fixed interest home loan plan comes with an interest rate of 11.75% and a repayment tenor of 20 years.

For loan upto Rs...

Regulator Reserve Bank of India's advice on waiver of prepayment penalty in case of floating rate home loans does not seem to be completely acceptable by banks.

Banks do not deny the fact that customer ties and relations should be enhanced but at the same time feel that prepayment penalty should not be waived in totality though it should be levied in reasonable rates.

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has put in their stand in front...

Foreign lender Deutsche Bank is aiming to enhance its loan book in India. The lender presently has a loan book of around Rs 1800 crore.

It aims to increase the figures to Rs 3000 crore by the completion of the upcoming fiscal.

The present loan book of the bank comprises of Rs 1,450 crore as home loans and Rs 350 crore as loans against property.

"We have started setting up more distribution points and adding capacity...

South African lender First Rand is aiming to set foot into Indian banking industry by initiating its retail banking business in the country.

The lender has already received a commercial banking license in India.

"India's gross domestic product grew 7.5% in the second quarter of this year and is expected to maintain growth at similar levels for decades to come. Compared with South Africa's long-run economic growth rate of about 3.5%, it is apparent why India is...

Non banking finance company (NBFC), Edelweiss Housing Finance Ltd is planning to come up with a new home loan scheme which will allow the entire property value to be taken as home loan without any downpayment needed to be made by the borrower.

The amount which conventionally needs to be given as downpayment by the borrower can be given to the company in terms of collateral like shares, mutual funds, debentures etc. After deciding on...