New appointment has been made at Royal Bank of Scotland, a well known name in the banking space. Mr. Madan Menon has been appointed as the International Banking Head of Asia Pacific region.

In a statement the bank said, "Menon will lead the International Banking division of the newly refocused wholesale businesses of RBS in the region. He will remain based in Singapore, where he was previously the Country Executive of RBS Singapore in addition...

The SKOCH Financial Inclusion Award 2012 has been awarded to Corporation Bank, a well known public sector lender. Bank's efforts at Belgaum and Tumkur districts in Karnataka bagged it the award.

The bank took up the Financial Inclusion programme for the self-help groups in the districts. Under the programme the bank plans to form around 80,000 form SHGs/JLGs (joint liability groups). As of now, the bank has already opened 22,300 bank accounts.

The Financial Inclusion Plan...

Federal Bank has hiked the fixed deposit rates across various maturity periods. The deposit rates have been hiked up to 0.25%.

The revised rates deposits rates are applicable from 17th January, 2011.

Leading public sector lender, IDBI bank has launched a new product for the customers' which is first of its kind in the country. The product has been christened as IDBI Samriddhi G-Sec Portal.

Through this portal, the customers can invest in both State and Central Government Securities.

The Executive director of IDBI Bank, Mr. Melwyn Rego said, "Retail investors having access to the Internet and a Demat account can freely buy and sell government bonds at...

The deregulation of the savings account interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India has been received well, particularly by the small private sector lenders. They have utilized this opportunity to attract customers by offering attractive interest rates.

Earlier, the interest rate that was offered on the savings account was directed by RBI. As a result of the development the banks can now themselves decide the interest rate that they want to offer.

Private lenders like

To make transfer of funds an easier affair National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) was introduced. Depending on the situation the funds can take a couple of hours to next working day to get transferred through this facility.

Sometimes, there can be unnecessary delay in the transaction and it can take time for the funds to be credited in the account. For such cases the apex banks has set some rules. In case of such a delay,...

Leading private sector lender HDFC Bank has introduced some new penalties that it will levy on its customers. A few other banks have also taken similar steps in order to maintain their share of profit.

The bank will now levy charges from the customers if the account is non-operational or in case of the amount of deposited cash is over Rs. 1 lakh.

In a notification to the customers, the banks said, "The bank will levy...

Public sector lenders who are part of the recruitment scheme via Common Written Exam (CWE) have started calling up the candidate for further recruitment process. The score cards have already been dispatched to the selected candidates and it is on the basis that banks will call for applications.

Banks will declare a minimum cut-off score based on which candidates will be considered for evaluation. Syndicate Bank has set its cut-off score at 138 marks while...

The Reserve Bank of India has instructed the banks to adhere to the rules set for the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) more seriously. It was reported that several lenders were unable to issue conformation receipts to the customers who made use of the facility.

The apex bank has asked the banks to set up new systems for the purpose within next 15 days. It is now imperative for the banks to ensure that the customers...

As suggested in the Damodaran Committee report last year, the Government is planning to introduce portability in the savings account numbers. If implemented, the system will allow the bank customers to switch their banks while their bank account will remain the same.

It is an ambitious project of the government but it will require banks to adopt several new techniques as well as to avail new technology.

The CEO of Bankbazaar, Mr. Adhil Shetty said, "Banks...

The Karnataka Vikas Grameena (KVG) Bank has launched a new  fixed deposit scheme with several special features. The scheme has been christened as “Vikas Poorna Cash Certificate”.

Under this scheme the bank will accept deposits in fractions and upon maturity will pay in rounded figures. The scheme is offered to both general citizens as well as senior citizens.

“The special deposit mobilisation campaigns, customers' support and confidence in the bank enabled us to cross Rs 5,467...

Most of the lenders in the country are busy in triumphing to the increased rate on the savings account that they are offering. The whole advertisement campaign does not seem to be causing any evident effect as of now.

A research conducted by Nielsen revealed that around 46% of the bank customers are not even aware about any such development. 54% did not know how much interest rate they are earning.

To take advantage of the...

The interest rates on the small savings schemes like post office savings scheme will remain fixed during its whole duration. The statement was recently released by the Government. It also clarified that the directions are not applicable on Public Provident Scheme (PPF).

The interest rates on Public Provident Fund (PPF), being a scheme which stretches for a longer duration, will not be fixed for its entire duration. The depositor will earn interest according to the rate...

Leading private sector lender, ING Vysya Bank has hiked NRE deposit rates. The move has come after most of the leading banks have already hiked their respective rates.

For tenure of 366-500 days, the bank is now offering 9.00% interest rate when the amount is below Rs. 15 lakh. Amount above Rs. 15 lakh for the same maturity period will now earn interest rate of 9.5%.

The bank has hiked the rates across various other maturity...

The deregulation of foreign deposit interest rates has led to a rate war among the banks. It rather seems to be getting intensified as more and more banks are joining it. Now, Dhanlaxmi Bank has announced an increase in its NRE deposit rates.

The head of Branch Banking and NRI Businesses at Dhanlaxmi Bank, Mr. Salil Datar said, "While NRI remittances in the country have increased due to depreciation in the rupee, our revised...

Leading public sector lender, Punjab National Bank has launched a new current account scheme. The scheme has been christened as PNB Smart Banking Current Account. Through the new account the bank plans to offer improved facilities to the customers.

The scheme has four variants, PNB Silver, PNB Gold, PNB Diamond and PNB Platinum. The variants are meant to cater the needs of various customers in the best possible manner.

In a bid to make the people...

The deregulation of NRE deposit rates by Reserve Bank of India has heated up the rate fight among the banks. The banks have hiked the deposit rate considerably which is enough to lure customers to invest with them.

Almost all the leading lender including SBI, HDFC Bank and other have already increased their deposit rates. Several banks like ICICI Bank and South Indian Bank have even hiked the rates twice within a very short...

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), a public sector lender has announced increase in the Non-Resident External (NRE) deposit rates. This move has come in the wake that the foreign deposit rates have been deregulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

The deposit rates across all the maturity periods have been increased to 9.25 percent. This substantial increase in the deposit rate will attract the customer to invest with the bank. Hence, the bank can expect an...

Indian Bank, a public sector undertaking has hiked its NRE deposit rate. The revised rates are applicable with immediate effect.

For a maturity period of one-to-three years the rate has been increased to 9.50%. This rate of interest is applicable when the deposits are below Rs. 15 lakh. Deposits above Rs. 15 lakh and upto Rs. 5 crore for the same duration will attract an interest rate of 9.25%.

Leading lenders like State Bank of...

The largest lender in the country, State Bank of India has also joined the league of banks that have increases their foreign deposit rates.

The NRE deposit rates of SBI have been increased from 3.82% to 9.25% for a maturity period of one-to-two years for amount less than Rs. 1 crore. Interest rate for deposits above Rs. 1 crore for the same duration will earn 9% of interest rate.

The revised rates for the bank will...