SBI happy to welcome merchants looking to shift from Paytm bank

 SBI happy to welcome merchants looking to shift from Paytm bank: Dinesh Khara : State Bank of India (SBI) is reaching out to merchants to support payment systems in light of the regulatory action on PayTM Payments Bank, chairman Dinesh Khara said. The nation's largest lender will be happy to welcome merchants and is also open to a one-time migration of accounts from the besieged payments bank, he said. “We are reaching out to all merchants and will be happy to welcome them back to ensure there are no disruptions in the payments ecosystem. We have SBI Payments which is a company that supports point of sale terminals, QR codes, or app based solutions. We are reaching out to merchants on an ongoing business and are also open to a one time migration of accounts,” Khara said. - economic times.

🍒         SBI says wage hike provisions to reach Rs 26,000 crore by March : State Bank of India, which saw a sharp 35 per cent fall in its December quarter net profit due to a one-time expenditure towards increased salaries and pensions, said the burden will jump to around Rs 26,000 crore by March this year. The country's largest lender on Saturday reported a steep decline of 35 per cent in its net income at Rs 9,164 crore during October-December 2023 compared to Rs 14,205 crore profit recorded in the corresponding period a year ago and Rs 14,330 crore earned in the preceding quarter. The public sector lender attributed the fall in profit to the additional provision of Rs 7,100 crore made in the reporting quarter towards salaries and pensions arising out of the 17 per cent wage hike settlement reached with employee unions in November last year. The revises wages are effective from November 2022. - economic times.

🍒         SBI’s Q3FY24 net profit drops 35.5% due to one-time provisions : State Bank of India (SBI) reported a drop in net profit for the first time in 12 quarters, with its third quarter (Q3FY24) standalone net profit declining 35.5 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to ₹9,164 crore as it absorbed one-time provisions relating to increase in pension liabilities and dearness relief neutralisation. India’s largest bank had reported a net profit of ₹14,205 crore. Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara underscored that the bank provided a liability of ₹5,400 crore in Q3 to correct the anomaly in pension, which persisted from 2002 onwards. Further, ₹1,700 crore was provided due to dearness relief neutralisation for pre-2002 retirees. Net interest income/NII (difference between interest earned and interest expended) was up 4.59 per cent yoy at ₹39,816 crore (₹38,069 crore in Q3FY23). - Business Line.

🍒         SBI made Rs 240 crore AIF provision in December quarter, says Chairman Dinesh Khara : Country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has made a provision of Re 240 crore on its investment in alternative investment funds (AIFs), said Dinesh Khara, Chairman of the bank on February 3. "We have made a provision of Rs 240 crore on our investments to AIFs. Our total exposure to AIFs is around Rs 1,000 crore," Khara said at a press conference post the announcement of the quarterly results. RBI highlighted regulatory concerns regarding certain transactions involving AIFs by regulated entities that have come to its notice and released guidelines for investments in AIFs by the lenders regulated by it. “These transactions entail substitution of direct loan exposure of REs to borrowers, with indirect exposure through investments in units of AIFs,” the RBI said. - moneycontrol.

🍒         Kotak-backed Phoenix ARC, Edelweiss keen to acquire SBI loan to HNG : Kotak Mahindra Bank-backed Phoenix ARC and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company are among half a dozen companies that have shown interest in acquiring State Bank of India's loan to Hindusthan National Glass (HNG), said people aware of the matter. Prudent ARC, UV ARC and Omkara ARC are some of the other entities that have submitted expressions of interest to SBI, the people cited earlier said. HNG, the country's largest glass bottle maker, was admitted for corporate insolvency in October 2021 on a petition by DBS Bank. SBI, which filed a claim of Rs 1,272 crore, has a 38% share in HNG's debt. - economic times.

🍒         BoM records highest growth in deposit mobilisation among PSU banks in Q3 : Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has recorded the highest growth rate in terms of deposit mobilisation among public sector lenders at a time when most lenders are facing difficulty in achieving double-digit growth. Out of 12 public sector banks, only BoM and State Bank of India (SBI) could log a double-digit growth in deposits in the third quarter ended December 2023. The Pune-based lender BoM reported a 17.89 per cent growth in deposits followed by SBI at 12.84 per cent during the quarter, according to published quarterly numbers of the public sector banks (PSBs). However, SBI's total deposits were about 18.5 times higher at Rs 45,67,927 crore, as compared to Rs 2,45,734 crore of BoM in absolute terms. - economic times

🍒         RBI likely to continue status-quo on short-term lending rate, say experts : Coming close on the heels of the interim budget which maintained the status quo on policy front, the Reserve Bank is likely to continue with the pause on the short-term lending rate in its upcoming bi-monthly monetary policy this week as retail inflation is still near the higher end of its comfort zone, say experts. It is almost a year since the Reserve Bank has kept the short-term lending rate or repo rate stable at 6.5 per cent. The benchmark interest rate was last raised in February 2023 to 6.5 per cent from 6.25 per cent to contain inflation driven mainly by global developments. The retail inflation in the current financial year has declined after touching a peak of 7.44 per cent in July, 2023, it is still high and was 5.69 per cent in December 2023, though within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone of 4-6 per cent. - Business Line.

🍒         CAIT advises traders to switch from Paytm to other payment apps in light of RBI action : Traders' body CAIT on Sunday issued a cautionary advisory to traders to switch from Paytm to other payment options for business-related transactions following RBI curbs on Paytm wallet and bank operations. "The Reserve Bank of India has imposed certain restrictions, prompting CAIT to recommend that users take proactive measures to protect their funds and ensure uninterrupted financial transactions. Large number of small traders, vendors, hawkers and women are making payments through Paytm and as such RBI restrictions on Paytm could lead financial disruption to these people," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) stated. - Business Line.

🍒         Money laundering concerns and KYC non-compliance led to ban on Paytm Bank by RBI : Money laundering concerns and questionable dealings of hundreds of crores of rupees between popular wallet Paytm and its lesser-known banking arm had led Reserve Bank of India to clamp down on tech poster boy Vijay Sekhar Sharma-run entities, sources said. The central bank has ordered Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) to halt most of its business including taking further deposits, conducting credit transactions and carrying out top-ups on any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, and cards for paying road tolls after February 29. - economic times.

🍒         Neither company nor founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma being investigated by ED: Paytm : One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), the parent company of Paytm, on Sunday, dismissed media reports that claimed its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma or others are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). "Neither the company nor its founder and CEO are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate regarding inter alia money laundering," said the company in a statement. The company did admit in its statement that 'certain merchants and users on its platforms have been subject to enquiries where they always cooperated with the authorities.' - economic times

🍒         Repeated flouting of RBI warnings may cost Paytm its payments bank licence : The Reserve Bank of India may revoke the licence issued to Paytm Payments Bank after the fintech major failed to respond to the regulator’s warnings repeatedly over the past few months, top sources told businessline. The central bank has given time to Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) to wind down operations by March 15, and is expected to wait till the month end to ensure that ecosystem players are not impacted following which the bank licence will be revoked effective April 1, 2024. “Cancellation of licenses is not something that can be done overnight. There is a natural process of justice to be adhered and respondents must be given adequate chances to prove their side. The respondents were given enough opportunities to take remedial actions and yet serious lapses have been found to persist,” an industry source said. - Business Line.

🍒         Karnataka: Companies must tie-up with insurers for gratuity compliance, employers’ body seeks time : Private companies in Karnataka will now have to partner with insurance firms and pay an annual premium towards honouring their gratuity obligation to employees as part of a social security scheme the southern state has rolled out. Companies, shops, establishments, and factories with more than 10 employees come under the purview of the new regulation called the Karnataka Compulsory Gratuity Insurance Policy Rules, 2024. The regulation, however, allows companies with 500 or more employees to continue with or have their own gratuity trust to comply with the gratuity law. - economic times.

🍒         India financial crime fighting agency will probe Paytm Payments Bank if money laundering found : India's financial crime fighting agency will probe Paytm Payments Bank if any fresh charges of fund siphoning are found, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra told Reuters on Saturday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday ordered the payments bank unit of One 97 Communications, popularly known as Paytm, to stop accepting fresh deposits in its accountsor popular wallets from March. "If there are any fresh charges of money laundering against Paytm by RBI, those will be investigated by Directorate of Enforcement as per the law of the land," said Malhotra. - economic times.

🍒         Sundaram Home Finance lines up aggressive expansion plans : Sundaram Home Finance has drawn up expansion plans by adding 40 branches across segments pan India, the company said on Saturday. Sundaram Home Finance is the wholly owned subsidiary of non-banking finance company Sundaram Finance Ltd. The company declared its financial results for the quarter ending December 31, 2023, by registering an 18 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 62.28 crore, as compared to Rs 52.57 crore registered in the same period last year. "Currently, the company has 135 branches in the southern region and in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat it is planning to add another 40 branches in the home finance, small business loan and affordable housing segments in the near future," a company statement said on Saturday. - economic times

🍒         Paytm Payments Bank: India's startup rockstar, Paytm CEO Sharma, battles regulatory crisis : A rags-to-riches tale, Vijay Shekhar Sharma is no stranger to controversy. Now, India's startup king faces arguably his biggest crisis in a race to save his revolutionary digital payments firm that had once counted Warren Buffett as a backer. Sharma has put up a brave face even as nervous investors plundered $2 billion off Paytm's valuation after India's central bank ordered his banking arm to stop most of it operations from March 1 for "persistent non-compliances" and "supervisory concerns". The ruling threatens significant business disruptions as the bank is the backbone of his ubiquitous Paytm payments app used by millions daily in a nation where cash was once king. - economic times.

🍒         Liquidity deficit eases to Rs 2.4 trillion after Dec high : After touching an all-time high of Rs 3.4 trillion last month, the liquidity deficit in the banking system has started to ease. The liquidity deficit declined to Rs 2.4 trillion on Thursday, reflecting a fall of around Rs 1 trillion, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Experts say that the days of extreme cash squeeze are unlikely to haunt banks again and the deficit in the system is likely to remain in Rs 1.25- 2 trillion range in the next quarter. The current deficit in systemic daily liquidity levels is due to a combination of seasonal and adhoc factors. Seasonal leakages include demand for tax payments and higher cash in circulation prompted by the Union elections. Ad hoc factors causing a deficit are tight credit-deposit ratios in banks and RBI’s interventions in forex market to maintain a stable currency. - financial express

🍒         Mcap of eight of top-10 most valued firms climb ₹2.90 lakh crore; Reliance shines : The combined market valuation of eight of the top-10 most valued firms climbed ₹2.90 lakh crore last week, with Reliance Industries emerging as the lead gainer, amid optimism in equities. Last week, BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 1,384.96 points or 1.95 per cent. From the top-10 pack, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, LIC, State Bank of India, and Hindustan Unilever were the gainers, while Bharti Airtel and ITC faced erosion of their valuation. The combined market valuation of eight of the top-10 most valued firms stood at ₹2,90,267.98 crore. - Business Line.

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