Important change on Standard Chartered Bank Charges

Message from SCB to customers:

We are happy to advise you that our new and enhanced Online Banking comes with additional security features providing a safe environment for all your online transactions. Further, we have now introduced an enhanced IVR (Interactive Voice Response system) at our Phone Banking that allows automatic identification of your open query and customized information based on your recent transactions. Also, the IVR is enabled with a call back option and the capability to provide key information on SMS. The above is designed to ensure easy access to us 24/7 at your convenience, using our Phone Banking or Online Banking.

We have also made some key changes applicable to your account effective October 1st, 2013. Request you to please take note of the following: Category Existing charges Revised Charges effective Oct 1st , 2013 Phone Banking Service Charges No charges applicable • Self Service IVR calls: Free • Non IVR calls^ attended by Phone Banking Officers: - First 2 calls free per calendar month - 3rd call onwards, 50 per call ^ Calls pertaining to complaints, lost/blockage of cards etc. are excluded from this charge

For details on the revised charges, please click here

Should you require any assistance or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us on our phone banking numbers or write to us at customer.care@sc.com or visit us on our website www.standardchartered.co.in

Phone Banking Numbers:

Allahabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Cochin / Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Patna , Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara

3940444 / 6601444

Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune

39404444 / 66014444

Gurgaon, Noida

011 - 39404444 / 011 - 66014444

Jalgaon, Guwahati, Cuttack, Mysore, Thiruvananthpuram, Vishakhapatnam, Proddatur, Dehradun, Mathura, Saharanpur

1800 345 1000

Siliguri

1800 345 5000

CIBIL puts number over name; underlines importance of credit scores to avail loans

Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL), a credit information company, has launched its first TVC. The filmfocuses on the importance of the CIBIL TransUnion score (credit score) for individuals who seek loans and credit cards from banks.

The film created by PostScript Advertising shows instances where loan seekers are told that their applications would get delayed. One instance shows a man's home loan getting delayed, while another shows a family of three being informed that their car loan would be delayed. Another instance shows an applicant trying to impress a lady executive saying his uncle is the manager of the bank’s Guntur branch. That's when a man walks in and announces his CIBIL score (750). That's enough to attract the attention of all the staff. The film shows him being treated like a celebrity, while a voice over informs: ‘Aaj kal aage badhne ke liye naam nahin number zaroori hai’ (To move ahead these days, you need a number, not name). It urges people to log on to www.cibil.com to get their CIBIL TransUnion score, to check their eligibility should they wish to procure a loan.

On the campaign, Arun Thukral, managing director, CIBIL, said, “The CIBIL TransUnion Score and credit report have been key criteria in lending decisions in India for a large part of the last decade. Our campaign carries a simple yet compelling message. It emphasises the importance that the CIBIL TransUnion Score has in the lending process and hence, creates the possibility of providing consumers access to loans more easily. This move is bound to generate large interest from consumers given that almost every loan application in the country is evaluated using the CIBIL TransUnion Score and credit report. If someone was previously not aware if they were eligible for a loan, they can now follow our simple online process to obtain their CIBIL TransUnion Score and credit report and evaluate their eligibility just like a lender would.”

Sumira Roy, co–founder and creative head, PostScript Advertising, said, “The story relates to the hardships customers go through in getting a loan for their dream purchase. It stresses that in the financial world one is recognised by numbers rather than a name. While the world entices consumers to avail of loans with promises, we thought we should empower the person applying for a loan with crucial information that banks look for when processing the loan application and give them the added confidence in knowing the true picture.”

Harshala Chandorkar, senior VP, consumer relations and communications, added, “The philosophy that we at CIBIL embrace is: You are a product of what you have created. Being diligent with payments builds ‘reputational collateral’ and you no longer have to rely on family, connections or assistance from anybody as long as you have control of your own financial destiny. This basic philosophy was weaved in with the focus of the TV commercial which is the CIBIL TransUnion Score. Couple this thought with the fact that financial strength gives you the freedom to aspire to an education and car or home ownership and we arrived at the punch line of the commercial which is: Aaj kal aage badhne ke liye naam nahin number zaroori hai.”

http://www.campaignindia.in/Video/353409,cibil-puts-number-over-name-underlines-importance-of-credit-scores-to-avail-loans.aspx

Ratnakar Bank acquires select India businesses of RBS

Mid-sized private lender Ratnakar Bank on Friday said it has acquired British banking major RBS' business banking, credit cards and mortgage portfolio for an undisclosed sum. The deal comprises transfer of 1.2 lakh customers but the asset base involved was not immediately known. All of RBS employees will be retained.

"(We have) agreed to acquire RBS' business banking business, credit cards business and mortgage portfolio in India, subject to approvals from Competition Commission of India," a statement from the unlisted bank, founded in 1943, said. "Employees of RBS associated with these businesses are proposed to be absorbed by Ratnakar Bank," it added. The bank's head of strategy and markets, Rajeev Ahuja, said RBS has built a high quality business rich in current accounts and added that the transaction will help the lender fast track growth.

The Kolhapur, Maharashtra-headquartered bank has a customer base of 5 lakh with a book of Rs. 14,500 crore. RBS has already announced plans of reducing its footprint in the country and has already stated that it will be holding only 10 of its branches in the country by end of 2013, down from a peak of 31. In the statement, RBS said the sale is in line with its plans. "The deal comprises over 1.2 lakh customers. RBS is fully committed to support impacted customers and will be writing to inform on the next steps for them." The British lender maintained the deal will have no impact on its corporate and institutional business (markets and international banking) or private banking businesses.

RBS had struck a deal to sell its retail and commercial banking businesses to its peer HSBC, but the pact fell as it was not cleared by the sector regulator RBI. Ratnakar Bank said the transaction complements its existing business and would help it strengthen base in the targeted product and customer segments. The deal will also enhance the private lender's low-cost current and savings account deposits in a "in a very short span of time", the statement said. The 70-year-old private lender assured the RBS customers will continue to get all services they have been receiving till now. Ratnakar Bank completed a second round of equity capital raising worth Rs. 324 crore from global and domestic investors by issuing three crore new shares in April this year, taking the total infusion over the last two years to over Rs. 1,100 crore. PricewaterhouseCoopers were the advisors to Ratnakar Bank for the deal, while Morgan Stanley and RBS M&IB Asia Pacific advised RBS, the statement added.

Publicis, Omnicom set to merge to form world’s largest ad company

Paris-based Publicis Groupe and New York-based Omnicom Group have decided to merge the two ad firms to create the world’s biggest advertising company, according to a media report. The report said two companies will hold equal share in the merged entity, to be known as Publicis Omnicom Groupe, which will be led by CEOs of both the companies together. As per an Economic Times report, the merged entity will have a combined market value of USD 35 billion. The two companies will use the synergies of merged firm to not only expand their market, but also negotiate for their clients better ad rates for media placements on television, the Internet and in print. The merged entity will also topple Londonbased WPP, which is currently the world’s biggest ad company, amidst rising hopes that recovering economic growth will turn around the fortunes of ad companies too. According to Zenith-Optimedia, a researcher from Publicis, Ad spending across the globe will probably rise 5.1 per cent next year.

StanChart's India unit operating profit up 45%

Standard Chartered Plc’s India unit has posted a 45 per cent rise in operating profit at $450 million in the six months ended June, on robust growth in the income from wholesale and consumer banking streams. The operating profit for January-June 2012 was $311 million. It posted a 17 per cent growth in income at $927 mn, up from $790 mn a year before. The income from wholesale banking rose 20 per cent to $682 mn. Consumer banking — personal loans, credit cards and the small and medium units segment—grew 10 per cent to $245 mn. Net interest income improved to 3.7 per cent from 3.5 per cent.

Sunil Kaushal, regional chief executive (India and South Asia), said there was strong underlying momentum in both businesses, driven by good client activity levels, despite challenges in the macro environment and currency drag. As an economy, India has had a relatively tough couple of years, with falling GDP growth and a decline in the rupee. As the market began to slow, action was taken to reshape the business, adjusting the risk profiles and priorities, the bank said. It rank remains cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the second half. “We expect the macro environment in India to remain somewhat challenging and uncertain but, despite this, both businesses have very good momentum as we begin the second half,” said Stanchart. With volatility in recent weeks, there might be further moderation in demand for credit from the consumer and wholesale side, said Kaushal. He said the bank was also cautious on growing its credit card business, given the slowing economy and job losses. He did not elaborate.

Loan impairment charges rose to $113 mn from $105 mn. Loan impairment is up slightly year on year but the portfolio is well diversified, well collateralised and short in tenor. The asset quality is expected to remain stable in the rest of the year, Kaushal said.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/stanchart-h1-pre-tax-net-jumps-45-to-450-mln-113080601250_1.html

Visa Inc. posts Q3 net income of $1.2 billion, authorizes new $1.5 bn share repurchase program

Visa Inc. announced financial results for the Company's fiscal third quarter 2013 ended June 30, 2013. Net income for the quarter was USD 1.2 billion or USD 1.88 per share, an increase of 16 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, over the prior year adjusted results. The prior year results were adjusted to exclude a litigation provision of USD 4.1 billion and related tax benefits associated with the Multidistrict Litigation proceedings taken in the fiscal third quarter of 2012. Net operating revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2013 was USD 3.0 billion, an increase of 17 per cent over the prior year, driven by strong growth in service revenues, data processing revenues and international transaction revenues. "Visa delivered solid financial performance during our fiscal third quarter and we remain confident in delivering our guidance for fiscal year 2013," said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. "We remain committed and focused on our long-term strategic goal of supporting our issuers, acquirers, merchants and government partners through flexibility and innovation in electronic payments. We are accelerating opportunities to expand our network through mobile, eCommerce and data-driven solutions, while continuing to deliver value to our shareholders."

RBI relaxes KYC norms for banks

Relaxing the KYC norms, RBI has said that the banks will now be required to update KYC data only once in two years for high risk entities, and just once in 10 years for low-risk clients. In a notification, RBI said, “The issue has been reviewed in the light of practical difficulties/constraints expressed by bankers/customers in obtaining/submitting fresh KYC documents at frequent intervals as the relative documents submitted earlier specially by low- risk customers have remained unchanged in most of the accounts.” RBI has asked banks to exercise full KYC procedure at least every two years for high risk individuals and entities, from the earlier directive of not less than once in two years. For low risk individuals and entities, the KYC data updation has been relaxed to at least every 10 years from the requirement of not less than once in five years earlier. For medium risk individuals and entities it has been relaxed to at least every eight years, from not less than once in two years. It said however that banks may continue carrying out on-going due diligence with respect to business relationship with every client

Micromax accidentally leaks Canvas 4 pre-order customer's sensitive information

It was one of the most hyped phone launch in the recent past. The Canvas 4 went up on pre-order without Micromax revealing the specs, price or even photos of the phone, yet over 10,000 people paid Rs 5,000 upfront to book a unit. But things went horribly wrong for a few when sensitive information including their email address, shipping address, phone number as well as Micromax account user name and password were leaked by the company.

First reported by Gizmodo India, some customers who had pre-booked their Canvas 4 units received a mail from Micromax informing them that the balance Rs 13,000 was being charged on their credit card. However, some of them received a mail that had the same details of over 100 other customers. BGR India has a copy of that mail.

What’s shocking is that not only did it have contact details of other users, it also had the user name and password of their Micromax accounts, which could enable anyone to change their order. One could effectively modify the order and change the shipping address. However, Micromax claims that it blocked access to the compromised accounts as soon as it came to know about the faux pas so nothing could be changed.

“We have looked into these reports over the weekend, the incident is an unfortunate combination of system and human error on the last batch of the orders to be processed. However, we have blocked the access for any changes to be made into these accounts and have ensured that details could not be tampered by anyone to be misused,” a Micromax spokesperson told BGR India.

Nevertheless, it is shocking how something like this can happen. It is one thing to be a brand aspiring to make it to the top and quite another to fulfil responsibilities that come with it.