Category:

Banking & Bancassurance

India’s fintech market to triple to Rs 6.2 lakh cr by 2025: MoS Finance Karad

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said that India has been ranked number one in terms of digital transactions and the total digital transactions have crossed 25 billion.

India provides a great ecosystem for Fintech development like access to bank accounts under the PM Jandhan Yojana, digilockers and scalable platforms including UPI.

read more

India aims to open finance to millions with user-data system

Regulators agreed to allow banks, pension funds, tax authorities, insurers and other finance firms to pool together customer information — once the user consents — to make transactions smoother. If the system works, firms will be able access large amounts of data within seconds to assess the creditworthiness of a small business, recommend a wealth management product for an individual, or tailor an insurance policy for a family.

The Account Aggregator system, years in the planning, was formally introduced on Thursday. It’s an ambitious approach that combines privacy protection with credit reporting.

read more

Jan Dhan accounts exceed 430 mn in 7 yrs, total deposits over Rs 1.46 trn

This national mission was launched to ensure people have access to financial services, namely, banking, remittance, credit, insurance, pension in an affordable manner.

On the road ahead, the finance ministry said, eligible PMJDY account holders will be sought to be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).

As on August 18, 2021, the number of total PMJDY accounts stood at 430.4 million. Of this, 55.47 per cent (23.87 crore) Jan-Dhan account holders are women and 66.69 per cent (28.70 crore) holders are in rural and semi-urban areas, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Out of total 430.4 million PMJDY accounts, 368.6 million or 85.6 per cent are operative, and the average deposit per account is Rs 3,398, as per the statement.

Increase in average deposit is another indication of increased usage of accounts and inculcation of saving habit among account holders, it said.

read more

China’s planned anti-sanctions law for Hong Kong unsettles financial sector

Under the planned law, if financial institutions in Hong Kong implement U.S. sanctions, they may be exposed to legal risk in Hong Kong for doing so, financial sector executives and lawyers said.

“Many foreign multinational companies are asking about the impact of the anti-foreign sanctions law, especially international banks and financial institutions,” said Shaun Wu, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm Paul Hastings.

read more

FDI proposal for bank-promoted insurance firm to be vetted by RBI, Irdai: Govt notification

”Applications for foreign direct investment in private banks having joint venture or subsidiary in insurance sector may be addressed to the Reserve Bank for consideration in consultation with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), in order to ensure that the limit of foreign investment applicable for the insurance sector as specified in serial number F. 8.1 and F. 8.2 is not breached,” the notification said.

read more

FM to meet CEOs of public sector banks on Aug 25 to review financial performance

Interestingly, this would be the first physical review meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year. The meeting is expected to take stock of the banking sector, progress on restructuring the 2.0 scheme announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sources said, adding that banks may be nudged to push loan growth in productive sectors.

The revamped Rs 4.5 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) would also be reviewed during the meeting likely to be held in Mumbai, sources said.

read more