Indian Retail Banking Overview
Indian Retail Banking Overview
Banking in India has come a full circle from the time when you had to wait in a
queue to collect cash to getting it delivered at your doorstep at no extra cost. Add to
that services like phone banking, Internet banking, 24 hour ATM, draft delivery at
home, etc. and you have service spelt with a capital S.
Though the contemporary banks' services have changed a lot over the last few
years, the core function has remained the same. Banks handle deposits and
withdrawal of money, provide loans, pay a part of the surplus as interest and the rest
is kept back for the smooth functioning of the bank and profit making.
A banks' functions can be divided into various divisions like:
Treasury group: This group takes care of the total funds of a bank including
foreign exchange reserves. Responsibilities include bank portfolio management,
dealing in foreign currency, etc. There are Forex (foreign exchange) dealers in this
group who exclusively deal with the foreign market. They buy and sell foreign
exchange at the minimum exchange cost thereby earning maximum profit from the
transactions.
Rural Banking: This group deals with the banking and credit needs of people in
the rural sector. Not all banks have this group and some banks have separate
subsidiary companies for rural banking.
Product Management: This group conceptualizes various banking services and
then develops, implements and manages them. They have the responsibility for a
banking product (meaning services like personal loans, home loans, credit cards,
loans against shares, educational loans, etc.)
Apart from these main functional groups, there is an appraisal group to analyse
economic feasibility of industrial projects, the bank's exposure to financial risk and
long term returns. There are internal auditors who audit the bank's internal books of
accounts.
There are various groups of professionals like lawyers, engineers, agricultural
scientists and economists who work in various departments in advisory capacities.
They help make decisions on issues that are legal, technical or economic in nature.
For example, the economist advises various functional groups on the implications
of the Union budget on the business of the banks, consumer buying pattern, etc.
BANKING IN RETAIL
With a jump in the Indian economy from a manufacturing sector, that never really
took off, to a nascent service sector, Banking as a whole is undergoing a change. A
larger option for the consumer is getting translated into a larger demand for
financial products and customization of services is fast becoming the norm than a
competitive advantage. With the Retail banking sector expected to grow at a rate of
30% [Chanda Kochhar, ED, ICICI Bank] players are focusing more and more on
the Retail and are waking up to the potential of this sector of banking. At the same
time, the banking sector as a whole is seeing structural changes in regulatory
frameworks and securitization and stringent NPA norms expected to be in place by
2004 means the faster one adapts to these changing dynamics, the faster is one
expected to gain the advantage. In this article, we try to study the reasons behind the
euphemism regarding the Retail-focus of the Indian banks and try to assess how
much of it is worth the attention that it is attracting.
The Indian players are bullish on the Retail business and this is not totally
unfounded. There are two main reasons behind this. Firstly, it is now undeniable
that the face of the Indian consumer is changing. This is reflected in a change in the
urban household income pattern. The direct fallout of such a change will be the
consumption patterns and hence the banking habits of Indians, which will now be
skewed towards Retail products. At the same time, India compares pretty poorly
with the other economies of the world that are now becoming comparable in terms
of spending patterns with the opening up of our economy. For instance, while the
total outstanding Retail loans in Taiwan is around 41% of GDP, the figure in India
stands at less than 5%. The comparison with the West is even more staggering.
Another comparison that is natural when comparing Retail sectors is the use of
credit cards. Here also, the potential lies in the fact that of all the consumer
expenditure in India in 2001, less than 1% was through plastic, the corresponding
US figure standing at 18%.
What according to you would be the next big thing to happen in the Indian
retail banking sector
Outsourcing! If you are a keen observer of the market, you would notice that every
sector, including big industrial sectors like car manufacturers, have gone for
outsourcing their requirements. Over a period, those players who have gone
aggressive on outsourcing have found that it saves them not only cost and time but
helps them concentrate on their core business area, a key survival necessity in these
times of economic downturns.
BANKING IN INDIA
The foreign banks have identified this problem but there are certain systematic risks
involved in operating in the Retail market for them. These include regulatory restrictions
that prevent them from expanding their branch network.
So these banks often take the Direct Selling Agent (DSA) route whereby low-end
jobs like sourcing or transaction processing are outsourced to small regional layers.
So now on, when you see a loan mela or a road show showcasing the retail bouquet
of an elite MNC giant, you know that a significant commission earned out of any
such booking gets ploughed back to our own economy. Perhaps, one of the biggest
impediments in foreign players leveraging the Indian markets is the absence of
positive credit bureaus. In the west the risk profile can be easily mapped to things
like SSNs and this information can be publicly traded. PAN is a step in this
direction but lot more work need to be done. What has been a positive step towards
this is a negative file sharing started by a consortium of 11 banks. However, as a
McKinsey study points out actual write-offs on NPAs show a strong negative
correlation with sharing of positive information. On top of this, the spend-now-pay-
later “credit culture” in India is just not picking up. A swift legal procedure against
consumers creating bad debt is virtually non-existent. Finally, the vast geographical
and cultural diversity of the country makes credit policy formulation a tough job
and it simply cannot be dictated from a Wall Street or a Singapore boardroom! All
these add up to the unattractiveness of the Indian retail market to the foreign
players. So over the past few years, in spite of the entry of MNCs in many
industries, Retail Banking has seen a flurry of panicky exits. Fewer than 40 remain
in India and their share of total bank assets currently 7.2% is falling. Those that
remain might be thought to be likely buyers of Indian banks. Yet Citibank, HSBC
and Standard Chartered—all in India for more than a century, and with relatively
large retail networks—seem to have no pressing need to acquire a local bank.
Established foreign banks have preferred to take over customers or businesses from
other foreign banks that want to leave. Thus HSBC, in recent years, has o-
Mitsubishi. ABN Amro took over Bank of America's retail business.
This will perhaps be the most wrongful inference that can be drawn from the above.
We just cannot afford to look inwards and repeat the mistakes that were the side
effects of the Nationalization of the Banking System. A growing market can never
be an alibi for lack of innovation. Indian banks have shown little or no interest in
innovative tailor-made products. A case in point is the successful implementation of
micro-credit networks in Bangladesh. Positioning a bank as a tech-savvy financial
vendor in a country where Internet penetration is an abysmal 1.65% can only add to
the over-leveraging as pointed out earlier.
The focus of the sector should remain in macroeconomic wealth creation and not
increasing the per capita indebtedness that will do little but add to the NPA burden.
Retail Banking in India has to be developed in the Indian way, notwithstanding the
long queues in front of the teller counters in the Public sector banks!
PRODUCT/SERVICES PROFILE OF YES BANK
1. Current account
-CA30000
-CA70000
-CA200000
-CA500000
2. Savings account
-Silver savings account
-Gold savings account
3. FD
4. Smart Saver
5. Smart Access
6. Non resident account (different varient)
CURRENT ACCOUNTS
Current Account is primarily meant for the purpose of facilitating business
transactions.
Current Accounts – Benefits
The main advantage of Current Account is its high liquidity and also provides
safety of funds to the customer. Current account serves as a low cost of funds for
the Bank, provides an opportunity for cross sell and creates stickiness / engagement
of the customer because of their transactional nature.
CA 30
Features
CMS Services
Flat and aggressive transaction charges for Pay Orders, Demand Drafts,
RTGS, Online RTGS, Foreign Outward Remittances (non-trade)
CA 70
Features
Swift & Convenient Cheque Collections at YES Bank Locations as well as
2500 Correspondent Bank Locations
CMS Services
Flat and aggressive transaction charges for Pay Orders, Demand Drafts, RTGS,
Online RTGS, Foreign Outward Remittances (non-trade)
CA 200
Features
Swift & Convenient Cheqfue Collections at YES Bank Locations as well as
2500 Correspondent Bank Locations
CMS Services
Flat and aggressive transaction charges for Pay Orders, Demand Drafts,
RTGS, Online RTGS, Foreign Outward Remittances (non-trade)
CA 500
Features
Swift & Convenient Cheque Collections at YES Bank Locations as well as
2500 Correspondent Bank Locations
CMS Services
SAVINGS ACCOUNTS
Savings Bank Accounts are meant to promote the habit of saving among the citizens
while allowing them to use their funds when required. Savings accounts are opened
for purpose of personal banking transactions.
Savings Accounts – Benefits
The main advantage of Savings Bank Account is its high liquidity and safety.
Savings account serves as a low cost of funds for the Bank, provides a platform for
cross sell and creates stickiness / engagement of the customer because of its
transactional nature.
SILVER SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Features:
Personalized Payable At Par Cheque book
More than 2500 locations for collection and more than 640 locations
for payment services
International Silver Debit Card with access to over 1.25 million ATM’s
worldwide & 35,000 ATMs of Cashtree/Maestro/NFS in India
Features
Free Instant Money transfer (RTGS/NEFT)to over 54,000 Bank branches in
India
More than 2500 locations for collection and more than 640 locations
for payment services
International Gold Debit Card providing Free Access to over 1.25 million
ATM’s worldwide & 35,000 ATMs of Cashtree/Maestro/NFS in India
FIXED DEPOSITS
In a Fixed Deposit Account, a certain sum of money is deposited in the bank for a
specified time period with a fixed rate of interest. The rate of interest for Bank
Fixed Deposits depends on the maturity period.
Bank deposits are fairly safe because banks are subject to control of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) with regard to several policy and operational parameters. The
banks are free to offer varying interests in fixed deposits of different maturities.
Interest is compounded once a quarter, leading to a higher effective rate.
The minimum deposit amount varies with each bank. The minimum amount of
Fixed deposit that can be placed with YES Bank can range from as low as Rs.
10,000 to an unlimited amount.
Interest Rates for Fixed Deposits
Returns
The rate of interest for Bank Fixed Deposits depends on the maturity period
(duration) of the FD and the amount invested. Interest rate also varies between each
bank. Some banks have facility to pay interest every quarter or every month, but the
interest paid may be at a discounted rate in case of monthly interest. The Interest
payable on Fixed Deposit can also be transferred to Savings Bank or Current
Account of the customer or could be paid back by a PO.
FD Minimum Tenure Account
Value(Rs.) Type
Rs.200,000 6 Months 1 Day Gold
Account
RECURRING DEPOSIT
Given the volatility and risk of capital and return across various investment options,
customers look for avenues to park funds with assured returns and safety of
principal. Recurring Deposit scheme enables the depositor to make a financial
provision by paying equated monthly installments for a pre-agreed period. At the
end of pre-determined period you are paid back the lump sum including the
principal and interest.
India’s most economical US$ Travel Card: Low fees and cross-currency
exchange mark-up not applicable in U.S.
FREE Access to over 9000 Chase ATMs in the U.S.
MOBILE BANKING
YES Bank is going to provide its customer a service where they can
transfer money, send money and pay utility bills through their mobile
phone. This will be an addition to the existing Mobile banking facility.
The YES BANK OBOPAY Mobile Payment Solution is a mobile payment
service by YES BANK that lets you Send, Spend and Get Money to/from
any of the 240+ million mobile phones in India (provided they are registered
users of this service and have a bank account with YES BANK or any of the
partner banks).
Process at the branch
For getting registered on the Obopay network customer needs to fill up the
application form and submit the same at the nearest YES Bank branch.
(Application form attached)
Branch will verify the signature of the customer against the signature present
in the FCR
Post signature verification branch official will affix a date and time of receipt
of application along with his signatures
Verified forms will be sent to the NOC Mumbai attention to DB Ops
team under a covering schedule
Process at NOC
DB Ops on receipt of the forms will enter the data manually into an excel
sheet which will be sent to E funds for Virtual card generation.
Data to be send to E funds will contain the customer details like Cust
Id, Account No., Name, Mobile No., Type of card to be issued, etc
E funds will generate the Virtual card no. along with the PIN mailers
and forward the same to DB Ops
DB Ops will reconcile the Card data received from Efunds against the data
forwarded to Efunds
Virtual card no. generated will be then uploaded in the Obopay admin
module along with other customer details
(https://mtrainier.obopay.in/obopaymgmtconsole/login.do)
Upload file is to be prepared in the attached format.
File uploaded needs to be authorized by a verified against the customer data
NET BANKING
2. Factor Authentication
Duly Completed Channel Registration form
Form should be signed as per the mode of operation in the account
2 Factor authentication should be ticked on the user profile form
Email Id of the customer is required to be mentioned on setup form
Setup will be done in Port wise for sending the SEED and PIN at the email
id provided by the customer
Note:
All the channel registration forms should have the company stamp
Branch to affix date and time stamp on the channel registration form
Receipt of documents
Branch to send the complete set of form along with the checklist under a
covering schedule to DB Ops
A soft copy of the covering schedule is also sent over email to DB Ops.
DB Ops sends acknowledgement over e mail to the branch and updates the
record on the ftp site.
PROCESS FOR BILL PAYMENT
YES Bank is providing its customer a service to pay their bills and make
charity/subscription payments through the Internet.
This is an extension to the existing Internet Banking facility.
All individual customers who have the right to conduct financial transactions
in their account are eligible for this facility.
Payment Process
Customer can pay the bill through PAY option in the Bill Pay page
Once the customer provides a confirmation for payment of the bill following
entry is passed by the system
A. Customer account Dr-----------Biller account Cr
Transactions done by Customers till 11:59:59 pm Day 0 are processed on
working Day 1.
Transactions done after 12 pm are processed on the next working day.