National Electronics Fund Transfer (NEFT) – India's Retail ePayments System working overtime on 31/03/2012 !!! Wanna have a piece of the action?

Yes, it's first time, that the NEFT Settlement timings have been extended. Normally, the RTGS cut-off timings are extended depending on the requirements.

But, for the first time on 31/03/2012, NEFT will have the entire gamut of 11 batches. Normally, on Saturday's, there are only 4 batches I.e 9.00am, 10.00am, 11.00am and 12 noon.

However, on 31/03/2012, there will be the complete 11 Batches ie.

1. 9.00hrs
2. 10.00hrs
3. 11.00hrs
4. 12.00noon
5. 13.00hrs
6. 14.00hrs
7. 15.00hrs
8. 16.00hrs
9. 17.00hrs
10. 18.00hrs
11. 19.00hrs

Banks should ensure that the 'Returns', if any should be completed on the same day I.e 31/03/2012, otherwise the customers will get back the funds only after 2 days I.e 03/04/2012.

Maximum Returns settlement on the same day, will boost the customer's confidence in NEFT, and encourage bank customer's to migrate to ePayments.

Bank customer’s too need to be careful, and double-check the account number they are transferring too, so that the funds transfer goes on without any hitches.

Yes, it is up to the customer's, to make the most of the extended NEFT settlement timings.

RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) – India's Large Value ePayment System open up to 20.00hrs on 31/03/2012.

This has been done in view of:-

• the expected huge volumes on 31^{stMar 2012,}
• 31^st Mar 2012 being the last working day for financial institutions
• 31^st March 2012 being a Saturday

Reserve Bank of India, DPSS has announced that RTGS will be open up-to 20.00hrs for Customer Transactions and upto 22.00hrs for Inter-Bank Transactions.

The announcement has been made in advance to enable all the participants I.e Bank Branches, Bank's customers, Bank's Staff, IT Support to be prepared for the extended window.

Bank's Treasury usually does not function on Saturday, but on 31^st March 2012, have to make an exception, and be tracking the RTGS Outwards/Inwards of their respective banks.

RBI by announcing the extended timings two days earlier has demonstrated its willingness to go the extra mile, to ensure customer delight.

Now, it is up to the Bank's customers to make the best of this extension.

4 top advantages of this extension :

1. No last minute surprises for the Participants.

2. Resources can be planned better, either by Banks or the Bank's customers.

3. Piling up of messages at the various Payment Gateways will be minimized.

4. Encourage customers to migrate to Safe ePayments

State Bank Of India – Branches will be open for Public up to 05.00 pm on 31/03/2012

State Bank of India, vide paper advertisements in leading Indian newspapers has informed that it's Bank Branches will be open for Public up to 05.00 pm on 31/03/2012 (Saturday)

Branches transacting Government business will remain open till late hours as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directives.

The Bank's esteemed customers are requested to complete their physical banking transactions will in time. Otherwise, they can transact their Banking Business via Alternate Channels, I.e ATM's, Internet Banking etc.

This move by SBI, should lead to similar advertisements by other Banks too, both Public Sector and Private Sector.

RuPay Debit Card - India’s Own Card launched.

On 26/03/2012, India's own Card. 'Rupay', was launched.

The top 5 features of the launch are : -

1. Rupay payment network was inaugurated by Shri G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India.
2. Rupay Debit Card launched
3. Rupay Prepaid Card launched
4. Rupay Credit Card to be launched soon.
5. Rupay Debit Card to be accepted at 91,000+ ATM's and 6,00,000+ POS terminals all Pan-India.
6. Bank of India and Union Bank of India, are the first Banks' to offer Rupay Debit Cards to their account holders.
7. POS terminals of Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank and State Bank of India, will accept Rupay Debit \ Pre-paid Cards in the initial phase.
8. No initial participation fee and quarterly minimum processing fees. This would encourage Regional Rural Banks, Co-operative Banks and smaller commercial banks to offer ePayments to their account holders.

At present 26.80 crs debit cards have been issued by Indian Banks and in the near future, this number will go up, with more account holders opting for ePayments.

Now, with 'Rupay' in the field, the transaction costs for Banks are expected to go down substantially, Banks will be able to encourage ePayments.  

50% Off – Indian Cheques, Drafts, Pay Orders life slashed from 6 months to 3 months

Well, the day of reckoning has finally come. From 01/04/2012, the lifespan of Cheques, drafts will be reduced from 6 months to 3 months.

This is in accordance with the RBI notification dt04/11/2011.

5 Points of this change:

1. All Cheques,Drafts I.e paper based clearing instruments will be affected.
2. The lead time of 4 months+, has enabled all the players in the financial market to be acquainted with the new rules.
3. This will increase the efficiency in the Cheque Collection process, as the lead time has been lessened.
4. This will reduce the inefficiencies associated with post-dated cheques.
5. This will encourage migration to electronic Payments, ePayments are instant

15 practices in other parts of the world.

Cheque/Drafts are valid for a certain amount of time after the date of issued.

The following are the Cheques/Draft validity rules in major countries of the world

1. Australia : - Cheques - Most banks in Australia accept cheques regardless of the date. Bank drafts expire after 6 months. After 6 months upto years, the drafts can be presented directly to the issuing Australian bank.

2. New Zealand - 6 months

3. Brazil – Cheque/Drafts 6 months

4. China - Cheques still not popular

5. France - One year, one week, and one day (373 days)

6. Germany - Cheques - Presentation period is eight days. However, a cheque is valid without time limit unless revoked by customer. Draft - No time limit

7. Greece – Cheque/Drafts 5 years
   
   
8. Italy - Cheques - No time limit. Bank Drafts - 30 days

10. Indonesia – Cheque/Drafts 90 days

11. Japan – Cheques are very rare.
    
    
12. Spain - Cheques/Drafts - No time limit

13. Portugal - Cheques 8 Days
    
    
    14) Switzerland - Cheques are valid for six months and eight days from date of issue. However, after this period, they still can be be cleared by special arrangement with the issuer or his/her bank manager. Bank draft validity periods - 6 months

15. United States of America - Cheques are valid, legally, for six months, then can be considered “stale dated”. A peculiar feature of USA banking rules, is that the Cheques may be returned for a period of seven years for fraud or forged endorsements. There is no time limit for encashment of drafts, but after 6 months, drafts are paid with extra due diligence.