Paytm FASTags will become inoperative after February 29 as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred Paytm Payments Bank from offering services from next month. “Travel hassle-free with FASTag! Buy your FASTag today from below authorised banks,” Indian Highways Management Company (IHMCL), the electronic tolling arm of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said on its official X (formerly twitter) handle along with a list of 32 banks that did not include Paytm Payments Bank. – economic times.
🍒 Paytm Bank’s exit from UPI unlikely to be disruptive : Paytm Payments Bank’s regulator-mandated virtual exit from the UPI platform may not have as disruptive an impact on the cashless transaction ecosystem as is being currently feared as most users have multiple backend accounts that are out of the scope of the central bank’s curbs. Furthermore, only about a sixth of the 90 million Paytm UPI users use the app as the sole application for transactions, people familiar with the developments said. – economic times.
🍒 West Bengal govt authorises Bandhan Bank for collection of tax, non-tax receipts : Bandhan Bank on Friday announced that it has secured a mandate to collect revenue on the Government Receipt Portal System (GRIPS) from the West Bengal (WB) government. This will enable people of the state to make their tax and non-tax payments through GRIPS. The bank said that it will soon be integrating with the Government of West Bengal to operationalise the payment collection process. – economic times.
🍒 Money laundering suspected: More payment banks under scanner : More payment banks may face regulatory action as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has detected about 50,000 accounts without know-your-customer (KYC) verification and potentially engaged in suspicious transactions and money laundering activities. About 30,000 of these are with payments banks other than Paytm Payments Bank and details have already been given to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is looking into these and has sought further information, said people with knowledge of the matter. The banking regulator didn’t respond to queries. – economic times.
🍒 SBM Bank India names Ashish Vijayakar MD & CEO : Private sector lender SBM Bank India Friday said it has appointed Ashish Vijayakar as managing director and chief executive officer. The appointment is for three years starting February 17, the bank said in a statement. Vijayakar is a veteran banker with a track record spanning around three decades in the banking and financial services sector. “With his proven track record of driving business growth, leading transformational initiatives and fostering winning teams, Vijayakar’s leadership will propel SBM Bank India to new heights of success,” said Sattar Hajee Abdoula, chairman, SBM Bank India. – Economic Times.
🍒 RBI’s restrictions card network will reduce volumes but not hit profits of banks’ card business : The Reserve Bank of India’s diktat restricting card networks from supporting business card issuance by non-bank intermediaries will hit the volume of card spends but will not impact profits in the card business, said Macquarie Capital in a report Friday. The RBI placed restrictions stating various violations, like payments being made to entities not registered as merchants on card networks. According to banks, the value of transactions in these cards is high, but since they do not attract the same level of fees (merchant discount rate) as retail sales, their card earnings will not be significantly hit. – economic times.
🍒 LIC launches Amritbaal, a traditional savings life insurance plan for children : The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has announced the launch of Amritbaal, a traditional endowment policy- non-linked, non-participating – aimed at parents who are looking to build a higher education for their children over the long term. The minimum age at entry (for the child) is 30 days, while the upper limit is 13 years.
At maturity, the minimum age is 18 years while the maximum is 25 years, LIC said in an official release. – moneycontrol.
🍒 HDFC Bank’s savings accounts gets boost post merger : The merger of HDFC Bank with mortgage lender HDFC has boosted savings accounts portfolio of the bank. Pre-merger about 30% to 35% of incremental disbursals were to an HDFC Bank savings account customer. This number has risen about 80% of incremental disbursals, post-merger. “Our aspiration is reach 90% by the end of this fiscal,” said Arvind Kapil, Country Head – Mortgage Banking, Home Loan, LAP, HDFC Bank. He added that the bank will continue its efforts to get remaining 10 % customers. – financial express
🍒 Income Tax refunds: LIC’s Q4FY24 net profit to get ₹21,741 crore boost : Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Friday said the Income tax Department has released refunds aggregating ₹21,740.77 crore for seven assessment years beginning 2012-13. This refund will boost the life insurance behemoth’s bottomline in the fourth quarter. “The total amount of refund was ₹25,464.46 crore. In this regard, the IT Department has released ₹21,740.77 crore on February 15, 2024. The corporation is pursuing for the balance with the IT Department,” LIC said in a regulatory filing. The corporation reported a 49 per cent year-on-year jump in third quarter standalone net profit at ₹9,444 crore against ₹6,334 crore in the year ago quarter. – Business Line.
🍒 Sundaram Home Finance targets to double disbursements in Maharashtra next year : Sundaram Home Finance has opened a new branch in Navi Mumbai, as the subsidiary of Sundaram Finance Ltd aims to double the disbursements made in Maharashtra next year. The expansion plan was in the backdrop of the region offering potential to home finance, a top official said. “Mumbai is the largest and fastest growing real estate market in the country. We currently operate out of Thane catering to the outskirts of Mumbai. This expansion in the business capital is driven by the growth of Navi Mumbai and the potential it offers for our home finance business,” said the company’s Managing Director Lakshminarayan Duraiswamy. – Business Line.
🍒 Gold loan companies request RBI to probe banks violating loan-to-value norms : The Association of Gold Loan Companies has requested the Reserve Bank of India to look into violations by some banks’ branches of the norm that caps the amount of loan that can be given against the pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery. This comes against the backdrop of banks’ sustaining their focus on growing their gold loan portfolio even after the RBI’s temporary relaxation (from August 6, 2020, to March 31, 2021) in the LTV (loan-to-value) norm ended. “We have taken up the matter with the regulator because some of the banks (both public sector and private sector) and some of their branches are violating the LTV norm,” said George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director, Muthoot Finance. – Business Line.
🍒 Nifty closes above 22,000 mark, extends gains for fourth straight session : Sensex, Nifty updates on 16 February 2024: Indian equity markets continued their upward trend for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, with the Nifty closing above the 22,000 level. The benchmark indices were driven by strong performances from L&T, Infosys, and M&M, supported by positive global market trends. The Sensex rose by 376.26 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 72,426.64, while the Nifty climbed 129.95 points or 0.59 per cent to finish at 22,040.70. Wipro led the gains on the Sensex, rising by 4.79 per cent, followed by M&M, L&T, Tata Motors, Maruti, Infosys, Nestle India, and IndusInd Bank. However, PowerGrid, SBI, Reliance, NTPC, and Axis Bank were among the stocks that lagged. In the US, the market closed higher in overnight trading on Thursday, while in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and South Korea’s Kospi ended with significant gains. – Business Line.
🍒 Rupee moves up 4 paise to 83.
