SBI report moots inducting more women business correspondents
Mumbai: An increase in the number of women business correspondents (BC) through, say, 33 per cent reservation  can alter the country’s socio-economic fabric meaningfully, according to State Bank of India’s economic research department (ERD). Women BC agents will bring in more transparency as “they have more patience and are more willing to address queries or explain product features”, the ERD team opined in a report. “They are more likely to serve customers in remote areas, elderly customers, and other under-served customers, and women agent networks could offer a mix of advantages, such as encouraging savings among women, onboarding more first-time female users, low-value but high-frequency transactions, and doorstep delivery of financial services,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, SBI.

ICICI Bank to get Jaiprakash Associates' 7.71% equity as latter's payment obligation
Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) and trusts associated with the company will transfer 7.71% or 18.93 crore shares to ICICI Bank as part of JAL's payment obligations to the bank, the lender informed in its filing to the exchanges on Tuesday.

City Union Bank eyes ₹1,000 cr. net profit during FY24
City Union Bank Ltd. (CUB) for the first time is likely to cross the ₹1,000 crore mark in its net profit during the current fiscal, said its MD and CEO N. Kamakodi.

Private capex yet to get broad-based, experts differ on next year’s trajectory

The revival in private capex is concentrated only in a few industries and is yet to get more broad-based, economists said.

Bad loan provisioning of PSU banks fall in Q2 amid improving asset quality

Public sector undertaking (PSU) banks have gained significant attention of investors over the past few quarters following their improving financial condition and better asset quality. The Nifty PSU Banks index has gained over 38% in the past 12 months compared with around 6% gain of each of the Nifty 50 and the ET 100 indices.

IDBI Bank revises FD interest rates; extends special FD deadlines with higher interest rates

IDBI Bank has revised fixed deposits interest rates for amounts less than Rs 2 crore. The rates are effective from November 12. Further, IDBI Bank has extended the validity date for special FDs dubbed as Amrit Mahotsav FD for 375 days and 444 days tenure, according to the bank website. It has extended these special fixed deposit deadlines to December 31.

Jaiprakash Associates enters into settlement pact with ICICI Bank, to transfer over 18.9 crore shares
“This is to inform you that, to give thrust to the ongoing efforts of the company to reduce its debt, the company, along with Trusts holding 18,93,16,992 equity shares of the company have entered into a settlement agreement with ICICI Bank (Lender) to transfer the said shares to lender. The value/consideration of the said shares shall arrive based on the closing price at National Stock Exchange of India Ltd on the day before the day of actual transfer of shares to the Demat account of the lender,” Jaiprakash Associates said in a stock exchange filing.

Asian Development Bank commits $400 million to India’s sustainable urban development
New Delhi: The central government on Monday signed a USD 400 million policy-based loan with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support its urban reform agenda to create high-quality urban infrastructure, improve service delivery, and promote efficient governance systems.

India's labour market undergoing structural transformation, latest survey data misinterpreted: SBI Research
India's labour market is undergoing a deep structural transformation with self-entrepreneurship across all echelons and higher education emerging as key enablers, according to SBI Research. In a report, it argued Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) survey data for the five-year period ended which revealed a significant decline has been ignorantly interpreted and the political slugfest around it was misplaced.

Microfinance arm may hit IPO market in next 12 months: Muthoot Finance MD
Belstar Microfinance, a subsidiary of Muthoot Finance is likely to launch an initial public offering in the next 12 months, Managing Director George Alexander Muthoot said. He tells Ajay Ramanathan that the company has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a deposit license.

Dvara KGFS expects 4-fold jump in loan portfolio in 3-4 years
Dvara Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) is expecting a four-fold jump in loan portfolio in three to four years to around ₹7,000 crore, a size its top management deems appropriate to tap the primary market with an initial public offer. This ambitious loan growth plan comes even as the non-banking finance company’s management has kept its fingers crossed on its application to the RBI in 2021 for starting a small finance bank. The Chennai-headquartered NBFC, which provides financial services such as joint liability group loan, jewel loan, crop loan, and cattle purchase/ maintenance loan in remote rural areas, had a gross loan portfolio of ₹1,632.51 crore as at March-end 2023.

BharatPe fraud: EOW spots date discrepancies
New Delhi : Recruitment firms linked to BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and his family members used backdated invoices to siphon off funds for work they never did for the fintech unicorn, an investigation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police found. The probe agency also could not trace many firms to which BharatPe had made vendor payments.

Banks, TPAPs to deactivate UPI IDs of inactive customers
Individuals who have not done any transactions on their UPI IDs and numbers for over a year will not be able to receive funds from January. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has asked banks, payment service providers and Third Party Application Providers (TPAPs) such as PhonePe, Google Pay and others to deactivate UPI IDs and numbers of customers who have not performed any transactions for one year or more.

Banking tech company Knight Fintech in talks to raise $25 million led by Accel

Banking infrastructure and lending solutions provider Knight Fintech is in final stages to close $25 million in a fresh round of funding led by Accel, at least three people told ET.

Looking for power play? Buy these 5 stocks as SIP, says Sanjiv Bhasin
Sanjiv Bhasin, Director, IIFL Securities, says people are talking of largecap underperformance. But the stars have been REC, PFC, NTPC, and Coal India. While people kept doubting the PSU rally, they kept going higher. There is still more steam there. I would not advocate buying fresh ad hoc, one can do SIP in some of these stocks. These are on a multi-year high, which means there is much under participation, particularly from mutual funds and FIIs that these stocks are going to be huge outperformers.

Cryptoverse: Bitcoin miners make money ahead of ‘halving’
Bitcoin miners are making hay while the sun shines. The business has been yanked out of the doldrums by the cryptocurrency’s recent rally – and now mining companies are racing to lock in profits before bitcoin’s “halving”, when rewards for producing the tokens are cut in half. The next halving is expected in April 2024, a process designed to slow the release of bitcoin, whose supply is capped at 21 million – of which 19 million have already been mined.

HDFC Mutual Fund captures the unbreakable bond on Children's Day
In celebration of Children's Day, HDFC Mutual Fund unveils a heartfelt campaign capturing the essence of the unbreakable bond between children and parents. The campaign, showcased through a video, draws parallels between the enduring trust shared by parents and their children and the concept of Systematic Investment Plans (SIP).

Net additions of SIP accounts reach record high of 1.7 million in October

The net additions of systematic investment plan (SIP) accounts reached a record high of 1.7 million in October, taking the total SIP folio count to 73 million, according to the data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Sensible opportunities emerging in largecap space: Nippon India MF's Bhan
The second-quarter (Q2) earnings mark a positive shift in trend after a lacklustre 12- to 18-month period, says SAILESH RAJ BHAN, chief investment officer-equity investments, Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF). In an interview with Abhishek Kumar, Bhan mentions that sectors such as automotive (auto), pharmaceutical (pharma), and industrials have performed particularly well in the ongoing result season. Valuation-wise, the money manager sees opportunities in financials, consumer staples, and utilities.

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Watch on bond yield as RBI declares auction of government securities worth Rs 30,000 crore