Tides of 16.07.2015
1. The
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is working on a mechanism by which
chairpersons retired or in service of any state-owned bank would be held
accountable for frauds or discrepancies till a period of four years since the
date of the fraud. Several discrepancies especially in government banks have
come to fore in the last few months. The move is expected to bring in more
accountability and reduce the instances of frauds.
2. Private
sector lender IndusInd Bank today reported 25% rise in net profit to Rs 525 crore for the
April-June quarter of the current fiscal. It had posted Rs 421 crore net profit
in the first quarter of 2014-15. Total Income
of the bank has increased to Rs 3,447.84 crore during the June
quarter of current fiscal, from Rs 2,873.68 crore in the same period of last
fiscal.
3. The Reserve Bank of India has set up a
14-member committee for working out a medium-term (five-year) measurable action
plan for financial inclusion. Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring
access to appropriate financial products and services needed by all sections of
the society in general, and vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and
low-income groups in particular, at an affordable cost in a fair and
transparent manner by mainstream institutional players. According to its terms
of reference, the committee headed by Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director of RBI
will review the existing policy of financial inclusion, including supportive
payment system and customer protection framework. The committee will suggest a
monitorable medium-term action plan in terms of its various components, such as
payments, deposits, credit, social security transfers, pension and insurance. It
will also study cross-country experiences in financial inclusion to identify
key learnings, particularly in the area of technology-based delivery models,
which could inform people of RBI’s policies and practices. The committee will
articulate the underlying policy and institutional framework, also covering
consumer protection and financial literacy, as well as the delivery mechanism
of financial inclusion encompassing both households and small businesses. It
will do so with particular emphasis on rural inclusion, including group-based
credit delivery mechanisms.
4.
Karnataka Bank has
launched two mobile applications – ‘KBL ApnaApp’ and ‘KBL m-PassBook’. KBL-ApnaApp
is an Android-based SMS banking app, which will work on the basis of SMS
authentication. Therefore, there is no need for GPRS/Wi-Fi connection, except
for downloading and updating the app, says a bank press release. The customer
has to register for the bank’s mobile phone banking services for using the app.
KBL-mPassBook facilitates downloading and viewing of account entries on
smartphones and tablets. Features, such as adding personalised remarks to
transactions and creating personalised ledgers, are part of this app. Launching
the apps in Mangaluru, P Jayarama Bhat, MD & CEO, said customers can
perform transactions on-the-go with these apps. Both apps can be downloaded for
free from the Google Play Store.
