HDFC Bank cuts rate by 35bps to 9.35%

MUMBAI: In a move that will put pressure on other lenders to cut rates, HDFC Bank has slashed its base rate by 35 basis points to 9.35% from 9.7% earlier. The rate cut, which is the sharpest by any bank this year, will make the private bank the cheapest lender for blue chip corporates. 

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Speaking to TOI, Ashish Parthasarthy, head of treasury, said that the asset liability management committee took a decision on Monday following a reduction in the cost of funds for the bank. The bank had earlier this month reduced its deposit ratesearlier and currently offers a peak return of 8.2% under its regular fixed deposits. "Only recently we have seen other banks cut deposit rates. We will revise deposit rates as well. If the trend is downwards, I can confidently say that we will reduce our deposit rates as well," he said. 

The move by the private bank will put the country's largest lender in a quandary. State Bank of India (SBI) has lower headroom to cut rates because a much larger chunk of its outstanding loans — including home loans and auto loans — are pegged to the base rate. But, given the competition, SBI will be forced to make some revision in its rates. In the case of HDFC Bank, most of the retail loans — auto loans and loans against shares — are at a fixed rate. HDFC Bank does not directly extend home loans. It markets them on behalf of parent HDFC and subsequently buys them from the corporation. The interest rates on home loans sold by HDFC Bank are determined by the benchmark rate of parent HDFC. 

On Monday, Canara Bank also reduced its base rate by 10 basis points to 9.9%. Axis Bank, another large private lender, reduced its deposit rates by up to 50 basis points. The cut was highest in the shorter end for deposits between three months to a year. The reduction is seen as a precursor to bringing down lending rates. 

Given the slow demand for credit, top corporates have been raising funds at below the base rate by floating commercial paper issues, which are in turn subscribed by banks. "There is still a large difference between the commercial paper market and our base rate. So,the commercial paper market will still remain attractive for those who have access and if we have customers who are not borrowing on the loan side we will buy their commercial papers," said Parthasarthy.

Source - TOI 

HDFC Securities appoints Dhiraj Relli as MD and CEO

MUMBAI: Retail broking firm HDFC Securities has appointed Dhiraj Relli as its managing director and CEO. 

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Relli takes over this position from Aseem Dhru, who returns toHDFC Bank as group head — business banking, rural, commodity and agri-lending businesses. 

Commenting on the change in ranks, Dhru said, "I am thankful to all my colleagues at HDFC Securities for their support, without which it would not have been possible to achieve what we have over the past five years. 
"If HDFC securities is seen as one of the leading retail broking houses in the country today, it is because of their collective effort and commitment. Relli, a distinguished leader with rich experience, will take the helm at HDFC securities." 

Relli has an experience of over two decades in the banking and financial management space. He joined HDFC Bank in 2008, before which he worked with Centurion Bank of Punjab and ICICI Bank. 

HDFC Securities, a subsidiary of HDFC Bank offers both retail and institutional broking with 250 branches and more than 1.5 million customers. 

Source - TOI 

HDFC Bank plans payments using QR code

MUMBAI: HDFC Bank, which accounts for almost Rs 25 out of every Rs 100 spent electronically, plans to revolutionize payments by using QR code readers and near-field communications in smartphones to pay for purchases in shops. These payment innovations are the second phase of its mobile banking ecosystem with the first phase focusing on getting 10,000 online retailers to join the bank's mobile banking platform for single-click purchases. 

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Announcing the bank's digital strategy on Wednesday, Aditya Puri, CEO, HDFC Bank, said its latest mobile application Payzapp, besides incorporating the banks marketplace Smartbuy, would also be a tool for QR code-based payments and contactless payments using mobile handsets. The app would also incorporate an e-vault for storing documents and provide financial planning tools. 

The key advantage the app would provide would be enabling mobile purchases from leading e-commerce providers such as Flipkart, Cleartrip, IndiGo, BookMyShow without downloading individual apps but getting the same app experience. Secondly, once the transaction is finalized, the purchase can be completed by merely clicking the 'buy button as the authentication is already completed by logging onto the banks mobile site. 

"The genesis of our mobile strategy was comments from investors who expressed concern that we would be disintermediated by technology companies. We have the largest share of merchants, cardholders and transactions and the only way we could be disintermediated is if we buried our heads in the sand and did not come out with our own solutions," said Puri. He said by digitizing processes, the bank was able to speed up loan disbursement to seconds and facilitate eCommerce transactions with one click and improve upon what the payments companies like Apple Pay were offering.

Source - TOI

ATM use: HDFC Bank to stop paper slips, to send detailed SMSes

MUMBAI: The second largest private sector lender HDFC Bankhas decided to discontinue issuing slips after cash withdrawals at ATMs and will alert the customer through SMSes. 

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"We have decided to discontinue issuing receipts after cash withdrawals. The SMS which will be sent will have detailed information on the withdrawn amount and the balance in account," a senior bank official told PTI. 

The bank is piloting the initiative at a few ATMs at present and will roll out the same across its network of over 11

Cash withdrawals account for the bulk of transactions at ATMs and the bank witnesses an average of 2 crore cash withdrawals every month at its ATMs. 

When asked about the benefits for the bank, the official said the switch to paperless mode will help it save under Rs 10 crore a year spent on paper. 

At present, customers are given a choice on whether they want a printed receipt or not. 

However, much of the receipts get discarded as soon as they come out and if not disposed off in the right way, also pose a security risk as they contain private information. 

This is a part of the digital initiative by the bank, under which it had last year launched the 'green PIN' scheme wherein card-users were given the PIN numbers electronically rather than in a printed kit, the official said. 

The official pointed out that customers of other banks who use HDFC Bank's ATMs will also not get the receipt as sending the SMS is mandatory for any bank. 

The bank is not doing away with using paper at the ATMs completely and customers wanting to get the receipts can do a separate transaction to get either a mini statement or balance enquiry to get a receipt, the official said. 

HDFC Bank added around 500 machines last year and will continue to add machines to complement its branch expansion, the official said.700 ATMs by the end of June, the official added. 

source - Times Of India