Eko in partnership with Centurion Bank of Punjab has launched ‘Abhilasha’ - No Frills Savings Accounts in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi. This is a pilot project under Reserve Bank of India's Business Correspondent circular.
‘Abhilasha’ customers avail of deposit and withdrawal facility without the customer ever having to visit the ATM or branch thus enabling low cost ‘Branchless Banking’ using mobile phone as a channel.
All instructions are just dialing of numbers and hence even number literate customers can use. This innovative offering enables customers who have mobile phones to be banked - a first step towards profitable financial inclusion.
Customers can open their accounts and transact (deposits / withdrawals) at multiple ‘Eko Cash Points’ in their locality. They have all the protections extended just like any other depositor with a bank under Reserve Bank of India regulations.
Eko extends 3-level security to the customers for their financial transactions using their mobile phone, PIN number and Signature Booklet (filed for patent). Their relationship is managed and serviced through ‘Eko Relationship Officers’.
We are looking to ensure greater financial inclusion to increase the outreach of the banking sector and we wish to extend this low-cost infrastructure for financial transactions to all banks across India on a progressive basis.
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
Bye Bye ATMs, use your mobile phones!
March 31, 2008, 10:23 amHDFC Bank to hire 2,000 people for BPO
March 31, 2008, 10:19 am
Country's largest private sector lender in terms of branch network, HDFC Bank is moving its BPO activity to the semi-urban area by hiring about 2,000 people in next two months.
The move is expected to bring down the operation by about 50-60 per cent primarily due to cheaper human resources and real estate cost.
The bank will soon open 400-seater BPO in Trupati, the second one after Nellor in Andhra Pradesh, sources close to the development said.
The Mumbai-based bank is expected to have 2,000 people working (at these two BPOs) by June, sources said.
Going forward, the capacity would be ramped up along with widening of the scope of operations, sources said.
This is the first such attempt by any major bank in the country, sources said adding, to start with these BPOs will do only data entry work of the bank, and hopefully of other bank's or financial intuitions, insurance Companies eventually.
The Nellor Centre opened early this year, manned by 140 people all hired locally, is currently operational.
Lower human resource cost and real estate would result in significant saving of operations cost for the banks estimated about 50 per cent.
Talking about the social benefits, sources said, the idea is to create job opportunities locally and help the local youth earn his living without the need to relocate to metros.
Most of these places have a annual family income of Rs 12,000 per annum, whereas the bank is paying them four to five times that approximately (Rs 4,000-4,500 per month), sources added.
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
The move is expected to bring down the operation by about 50-60 per cent primarily due to cheaper human resources and real estate cost.
The bank will soon open 400-seater BPO in Trupati, the second one after Nellor in Andhra Pradesh, sources close to the development said.
The Mumbai-based bank is expected to have 2,000 people working (at these two BPOs) by June, sources said.
Going forward, the capacity would be ramped up along with widening of the scope of operations, sources said.
This is the first such attempt by any major bank in the country, sources said adding, to start with these BPOs will do only data entry work of the bank, and hopefully of other bank's or financial intuitions, insurance Companies eventually.
The Nellor Centre opened early this year, manned by 140 people all hired locally, is currently operational.
Lower human resource cost and real estate would result in significant saving of operations cost for the banks estimated about 50 per cent.
Talking about the social benefits, sources said, the idea is to create job opportunities locally and help the local youth earn his living without the need to relocate to metros.
Most of these places have a annual family income of Rs 12,000 per annum, whereas the bank is paying them four to five times that approximately (Rs 4,000-4,500 per month), sources added.
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
‘Salary hike may dent India's fiscal gains’
March 25, 2008, 11:29 am
A much-anticipated increase in salaries for government employees will threaten India's drive to consolidate its public finances and make a near-term cut in interest rates difficult, Morgan Stanley said on Monday.
The Sixth Pay Commission for federal government workers submitted its report to the finance minister on Monday but details are yet to be announced.
Morgan Stanley economists said in a research note they expected central government salaries and pension costs to rise by 300 billion rupees ($7.4 billion or 0.4 percent of gross domestic product) to 1.307 trillion rupees (2.5 percent of GDP) in the 2008/09 year.
Chetan Ahya, Tanvee Gupta and Sumeet Kariwala said this would be a 30 percent year-on-year increase in salary and pension costs for some 2.9 million central government workers.
They said the increase was likely to make state governments, with 7.2 million employees, and quasi-government agencies follow suit.
They estimated the combined wage and pension cost increase for central and state governments and quasi-government organisations would be 1.4-1.5 trillion rupees spread over the next three years.
"The combined effect of the pay hike and the recent farm loan relief spending of 600 billion rupees or 1.2 percent of GDP will decidedly reverse the six-year trend of reduction in government deficit," they said.
Such an expansionary fiscal policy would affect the central bank's ability to cut rates in the near term and a higher fiscal burden would come at a time when capital inflows may slow, potentially pushing up longer-term bond yields and steepening the yield curve.
On the positive side, the pay hike was likely to result in more discretionary and staple consumption, they wrote.
But discretionary spending was likely to face headwinds from tight monetary policy and public sector earnings could be negatively affected due to rising long bond yields and losses in treasury portfolios, they said.
Courtesy : THEFINANCIALEXPRESS.COM
The Sixth Pay Commission for federal government workers submitted its report to the finance minister on Monday but details are yet to be announced.
Morgan Stanley economists said in a research note they expected central government salaries and pension costs to rise by 300 billion rupees ($7.4 billion or 0.4 percent of gross domestic product) to 1.307 trillion rupees (2.5 percent of GDP) in the 2008/09 year.
Chetan Ahya, Tanvee Gupta and Sumeet Kariwala said this would be a 30 percent year-on-year increase in salary and pension costs for some 2.9 million central government workers.
They said the increase was likely to make state governments, with 7.2 million employees, and quasi-government agencies follow suit.
They estimated the combined wage and pension cost increase for central and state governments and quasi-government organisations would be 1.4-1.5 trillion rupees spread over the next three years.
"The combined effect of the pay hike and the recent farm loan relief spending of 600 billion rupees or 1.2 percent of GDP will decidedly reverse the six-year trend of reduction in government deficit," they said.
Such an expansionary fiscal policy would affect the central bank's ability to cut rates in the near term and a higher fiscal burden would come at a time when capital inflows may slow, potentially pushing up longer-term bond yields and steepening the yield curve.
On the positive side, the pay hike was likely to result in more discretionary and staple consumption, they wrote.
But discretionary spending was likely to face headwinds from tight monetary policy and public sector earnings could be negatively affected due to rising long bond yields and losses in treasury portfolios, they said.
Courtesy : THEFINANCIALEXPRESS.COM