Indian Cooperative Banks to join the PMJDY cluster

            Buoyed by the success of PMJDY, a number of cooperative banks have sought clarification from Reserve Bank of India, as to whether the cooperative banks can open PMJDY Accounts.

            Dr.Alok Pande Director in Department of Financial Services, has issued a circular stating the minimum requirements cooperative banks should have to open PMJDY Accounts.

            As per the circular, Cooperative Banks (Urban/Rural) which are on CBS (Core Banking Solution) and are having arrangement with NPCI for issuance of RuPay Debit Cards are eligible to open accounts under PMJDY.

            This is one more step towards 100% banking coverage to all Indian households by 26^th January, 2015.   

As on date 200+ cooperative and gramin banks can issue RuPay Debit Cards. The banks are spread over all over India.  

In one of the biggest initiatives towards institution capacity building, NABARD is facilitating the process of bringing the Co-operative Sector onto Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform.

A total of 201 State and Central Co-operative Banks with 6,940 branches from 16 states & 03 UTs of the country, viz. Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Chhattisgarh, MP, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar have joined “NABARD initiated Project for CBS in Co-operatives”.

Two vendors, viz. TCS and Wipro, are implementing the ambitious project across the country.

Of the 201 banks with 6 ,940 branches under NABARD Project, 200 banks and 6,939 branches are fully on CBS as on 31st August 2014. This includes 114 new branches which were directly opened on CBS platform.

Key Takeaways from Andhra Banks’ MDs' walkathon

            Readers must have read this article-offline or online on Andhra Banks MD’s walkathon to gauge the pulse of his prospective customers

            The Andhra Bank walkathon is not aimed at fundraising but raising awareness about the various banking products on offer.

            The following are the key takeaways:-

01) Walkathon is a great tool to gather information about the target audience

02)The target audience gets an opportunity to interact with the decision makers

03)The decision makers get neutral feedback

04)The feedback so obtained can be the foundations for a focused campaign

05)Majority of the target audience are familiar with LessCash modes

06)The preferred LessCash mode is POS (Point of Sales) Terminals

07) Cash Deposit Machines too are preferred but not over POS (Point of Sales) Terminals

08)In the near future, Andhra Bank will focus on rolling out a large number of POS (Point of Sales) Terminals

Expand your Horizons with IIBFs' - Certified Treasury Dealer Course

            All major institutions have a dedicated treasury with its own set of rules and quirks. A job at the Treasury Department is most sought after.

            Indian banks too have a dedicated Treasury Department. The functions performed by a Bank treasury department are different from functions of a corporate treasury department.

            For a brief view of the functions of a Bank Treasury Department, click here

            Specialized skills are required to handles the pressures of Treasury Department. The on-the-job training assists a new recruit to assimilate the skills for the Treasury Department. However, there was no integrated course for the treasury department knowledge seekers.

            Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (IIBF) has recently launched a new course i.e ‘Certified Treasury Dealer Course’.

            The aim of the course is to create a cadre of well trained dealers to handle the front office operations in Integrated Dealing Rooms in Banks as well as Financial Institutions.

            The dealing functions have been split into seven easy-to-follow modules. 

            The target group for this course is as under:

01) Newly posted officers in the dealing room

02)Persons identified for openings in dealing room

03)Persons aspiring to don the Dealer Had in the near future

The candidate’s assessment is done through two modes :-

a)Online examination

b) 3 days classroom learning

Only those candidates who have passed the Online examination will be able to attend the classroom learning module.

The following are the 7 Modules

01) Financial Markets and Role of Treasury

02)Money Market Operations

03)Investments

04)Forex Dealings

05)Derivatives

06)Model Code and Dealing Ethics

07)Time value of money and Interest Rate Calculations

The ATM revolution is coming

            The usage pattern of ATM users will drastically change from 01 November 2014. RBIs’ guidelines of rationalization of ATM transactions will be live from 01 November 2014.

            This will be line with RBIs Notification dt. August 14, 2014, wherein an intra-month slab has been introduced within the 5 free transactions (financial and non-financial) for saving bank account holders.

Top 8 points:

01) This is applicable only to saving bank accounts.

02)Overall the five free transactions limit continues to stay.

03)The number of free transactions at ATMs is reduced from the present five to three transactions per month for transactions carried out at the ATMs located in six metro centres, viz. Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

04)The intra-month limit is bifuracted as under: The overall cap remains unchanged, THREE transactions (inclusive of both financial and non-financial) would be free of charge if carried out at other bank ATMs located in six metro centres,viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

05)In simple terms, it means if the transactions are carried out at the six metro centres and other locations, the total number of transactions (inclusive of both financial and non-financial) free of charge at other bank ATMs would continue to remain at FIVE.

06)Of course Banks are, however, free to offer more number of free transactions per month at other bank ATMs as well as own ATMs in any geographical location.

07)Now this is interesting, Banks are also free to decide on the combination (for metro & non-metro locations) of free transactions while adhering to the minimum requirements.

08)It is clarified that the applicability of free transactions (inclusive of both financial and non-financial) at other bank ATMs to small / no frills / basic savings deposit account holders is guided by RBI Circular  dated August 14, 2014 and is subject to the provisions indicated in the respective Master Circular as amended from time to time.

Boom time for NPCIs’-IMPS – 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14 NEFT/RTGS closed

          

  The IMPS (Instant Payment Service) funds transfer service works 24*7,365days a year, with no respect to holidays.

            The end-to-end transaction is fully automated, with minimal human intervention required.

            Customers of 67 banks in India can transfer instantly any time of day or night through the IMPS mode

            In addition to the 67 banks, 3 cooperative banks are on IMPS network

            The conventional electronic transfer channels i.e NEFT/RTGS/Clearing Grid are closed on 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14. Physical bank branches thought India are closed.

            Net banking will function, however as NEFT/RTGS are closed, the funds transfer through this mode will not work.

            The only electronic funds transfer which will work on 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14 is IMPS. Nothing more, Nothing less.  

            Be 100% sure of the beneficiaries’ bank account number, IFS Code before initiating the IMPS transaction. There is a very remote chance of funds callback