RBI’s central board reviews global and domestic economic situation and outlook
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India’s Central Board of Directors on Friday reviewed the global and domestic economic situation and outlook. The Board, at its meeting held in Nagpur under the Chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das, took stock of the challenges posed by geopolitical developments and global financial market volatility, the central bank said in a statement.

Operational creditors may get relief
Insolvency experts are making a fresh pitch for changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to address one of the glaring shortfalls of the current regime — absence of a mechanism to ensure a fair share of realised proceeds of resolution for operational creditors.

RBI plans a special audit for breaches by IIFL Finance, JM Financial Products Ltd
RBI to conduct special audit for regulatory breaches by IIFL Finance, JM Financial Products
The Financial Express

Google Play billing system comes under RBI scanner over alleged violations
 

Share of bank loans and term deposits bearing “8% plus” and “7 % & above” interest rate, respectively, rose substantially in the last 21 months
The share of bank loans and term deposits bearing ‘over 8 per cent’ and ‘7 per cent & above’ interest rate, respectively, has increased substantially in the last 21 months, reflecting the pass-through of policy rate increases. The share of bank loans bearing over 8 per cent interest rates increased from 47.2 per cent in March 2022 to 78.9 per cent in March 2023 and further to 83.7 per cent in December 2023, according to RBI’s latest monthly bulletin.

Union Bank CDO quits within just 18 months
Union Bank of India’s chief digital officer (CDO) Rajnish Khare quit after a nearly 18-month stint, the lender informed exchanges on Saturday. Khare had joined the bank on November 2, 2022, and his last date of service would be April 12, 2024. The bank said the resignation was “on account of prolonged reflection on his professional journey and personal principles”. The lender said Anil Kuril, chief general manager and chief technology officer, will be given the additional responsibility of heading the digitisation department of the bank.

Private credit deals go creative, lenders take cue from structures used in developed countries
Lenders in private credit space are using creative ways to structure their deals and payment terms.

Federal Bank opens 600th branch of Kerala in Tanur
Kochi: Federal Bank has opened its 600th branch of Kerala in Tanur of Malappuram district on Monday. The branch was inaugurated by K Salmath, President of Tanur Block Panchayat. Nandakumar V, Head of Branch Banking, Federal Bank presided over the function.

Federal Bank introduces 'Flash Pay' RuPay smart key chain for secure contactless payments. Details here
Federal Bank has introduced the innovative RuPay Smart key chain, ‘Flash Pay’, which is the first of its kind in the industry and is enabled with NCMC technology. This smart key chain allows users to make contactless payments at NCMC-enabled metro stations without the need to wait in line to purchase tickets or cards specific to the metro stations. 

Public sector banks' dividend payout may exceed Rs 15,000 crore in FY24
Public sector banks’ dividend payout may exceed Rs 15,000 cr in FY24
The Financial Express

Capital markets in India have seen steady domestic flows: BoA's Balakrishnan
The capital markets in India have seen steady domestic flows leading to its ability to absorb large trades, come rain or shine, says Raj Balakrishnan, co-head India Investment Banking, Bank of America (BoA) in an interview. Balakrishnan, who has been with the firm for more than two decades, says the Indian economy is in fine fettle and there seems to be no reason why there won't be 6-7% real GDP growth for the next 5-10 years. Edited excerpts:

Star Housing Finance inks co-lending pact with Tata Capital Housing Finance
Mumbai: Semi-urban and rural housing finance-focussed Star Housing Finance has entered into a co-lending arrangement with Tata Capital Housing Finance. The co-lending pact aims to lend to economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) at more affordable rates by leveraging the strength of Tata Capital Housing and the distribution network of Star Housing.

HFCs’ AUM expected to grow by 12-14% for FY24 and FY25
Mumbai: Housing finance companies’ AUM is seen growing 12-14 per cent in FY24 and FY25 led by continued growth momentum in housing loans coupled with an expected revival in developer loans, according to CareEdge Ratings. “While the share of wholesale financing of HFCs is expected to rise in the medium term, it is broadly expected to remain in the range of 10-12 per cent as financiers embark on cautious growth,” said Gaurav Dixit, Director – BFSI Ratings.

LIC Housing Finance to expand its non-core loan book in bid to improve margins
 

How RBI’s new guidelines will empower card users
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently amended the credit and debit card guidelines. Sachin Kumar explains how the revised norms will benefit customers and their impact on banks, fintechs and co-branding partners

Travel credit cards seeing strong growth as Indians warm up to reward miles, discounts

Mumbai Travel-based co-branded credit cards are seeing strong growth led by steady demand as more and more users utilise these cards for reward miles and discounts for their domestic and overseas travel.

Banks to get upper hand in gold loan market
The Reserve Bank of India(RBI)’s measures on bellwether IIFL Finance is likely to give banks an upper hand in the gold loan market, say experts. This is primarily because  non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) may have to re-assess disbursement models. In addition, they may have to deploy  stringent measures to meet compliance.

Credit growth trajectory to slow down to 12-14% over FY25-27E, LDR to drop as well, says Emkay Institutional Equities
The credit growth trajectory is expected to slow down to 12-14 per cent on-year over FY25-27E from the current ~16.5 per cent YoY (21 per cent incl-HDFC), stated a report by Emkay Institutional Equities. The report also expects that the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) will drop to 75 per cent from a current high of 80 per cent. It further added that the overall deposit growth and more so slowing retail deposit growth (including SA) could emerge as a structural risk to India’s long term retail credit growth story, unless it is addressed. 

Bank direct lending to NBFCs to moderate at Rs 1.7-1.9 trn in FY25: ICRA
The incremental direct bank lending to NBFCs was Rs 1.61 trillion in the 10-month of the current financial year (FY24).
 

NBFC's mission to diversify funding may see them struggle in the quest
In 2009, Tata Capital’s Rs 500 crore bond issue was subscribed a tad over six times; the non-banking financial company (NBFC) retained Rs 1,500 crore. “We feel such bonds will become an instrument of choice for investors and other corporates, leading to the development of a strong corporate bond market,” said Praveen P Kadle, then managing director (MD) of the firm. A decade and half later, Mint Road has made it clear that banks will have to diversify their funding sources (tap the bond market) rather than rely on bank finance. It upped the risk weights on bank exposures to NBFCs by 25 percentage points last November.

Paytm exit effect: BharatPe sees 77% jump in merchant on-boarding in Feb
Mumbai: Payments platform BharatPe has seen a surge in business following the restrictions imposed by competitor Paytm and its payments bank arm on January 31, 2024. In February 2024, BharatPe’s merchant on-boarding surged by 77 per cent on month and platform’s website traffic for onboarding inquries increased by more than 47 per cent, the company told businessline.

Paytm’s FY25E revenue likely to decline by 24%; company to lose customers, 15-20% merchants to competitors
Amid the looming regulatory scrutiny around Paytm with Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) receiving regulatory warnings and RBI imposing severe business restrictions on the subsidiary company, Motilal Oswal Financial Services estimated that Paytm’s FY25E revenue is expected to decline by 24 per cent. “We remain watchful on the ongoing business transition and Paytm’s ability to recover lost business and resume growth trajectory over FY25- 26E. We thus estimate FY25E revenue to decline by 24 per cent, while contribution profit declines 30 per cent,” Motilal Oswal stated in an analysis report.

Paytm UPI: Transactions decline to continue till new customers added

The Reserve Bank of India had mandated Paytm to shift existing users to a new handle after the Paytm Payments Bank was asked to stop transactions after 15 March.
 

Amazon Pay to ramp up Smart Stores service partnership to 150 brands
 

Paytm denies layoffs, says Senior Vice President Praveen Sharma has resigned
One97 Communications, the parent company of fintech unicorn Paytm, has in an exchange filing on March 24 announced that Praveen Sharma, Senior Vice President - Business, formally resigned from his position on Saturday.

UPI space set to hot up as banks enter the fray aggressively
Leading banks, such as State Bank of India and Axis Bank are looking to increase their Unified Payment Interface (UPI) market share by making innovations in their mobile application that can be used by both customers and non-customers. Armed with a third-party application provider licence, they are seeking to get aggressively into the space currently dominated by PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.  

Norges Fund Investment Bank of Norway supports ICICI Securities delisting

The foreign fund, which holds nearly 3.25 per cent stake in ICICI Securities, voted in favour on Thursday, the first day of e-voting, as per the information posted on the website of Norges Fund Investment Bank.

Index Fund Investing: A passive approach to long-term wealth
In today’s complex investment landscape, index fund investing has surged in popularity as a simple and cost-effective method for accumulating long-term wealth. This article delves into the basics of index fund investing, tracing its evolution both globally and in India, while also shedding light on essential considerations before incorporating it into investment portfolios.

Journey of midcap, smallcap schemes: 6 years from the previous peak

Are they attracting more than their fair share of inflows? Will they be able to meet the redemption requests in case of a sudden fall in markets?

Buckle up for more volatility: UTI's Vetri Subramaniam
 

Shouldn’t have put initial savings in real estate: Sandeep Tandon
 

FPIs infuse over Rs 38,000 cr in equities in March so far amid strong domestic economic outlook
FPIs have shown a significant resurgence in their investment activity within the Indian equity markets this month, injecting over Rs 38,000 crore, mainly driven by favourable shifts in the global economic scenario and strong domestic macroeconomic outlook.

Managing risks smartly for better returns
After a relentless rally over the past few months, markets have turned volatile in recent weeks. The broader markets are especially raising concerns relating to elevated valuations. Market regulator SEBI’s push to mutual funds towards declaring stress test results on their holdings is also keeping investors on tenterhooks. With elections also set to commence from next month till June first week, markets may continue to be volatile for the foreseeable future.