CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Canara Bank launches Rupay Credit Card on UPI
- Canara Bank in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the Rupay Credit Card through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) using the BHIM(Bharat Interface for Money) app
Aim :
- To leverage the reach of UPI and the strength of credit card products.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
IREDA gets ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ status from RBI
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)’ status to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
- With IFC status, IREDA will be able to take higher exposure in renewable energy (RE) financing.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
SBI raises Rs. 3717 crores through Additional Tier 1 bonds
- The nation’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) raised Rs 3,717 crore through additional tier 1 (AT1) bond sale.
- This is the third Basel III compliant AT1 bond sale and the latest issue was closed at a coupon rate of 8.25%.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
RBI infuses ₹82650 crore into the banking system via VRR auction
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) infused liquidity amounting to ₹82,650 crore into the banking system via the 14-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction.
- Banks borrowed ₹82,650 crore at a weighted average rate of 6.53%.
- Notified amount under the VRR auction was ₹1 lakh crore.
- This will be only the second VRR auction conducted by the RBI since February 2020.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Central banks of Israel, Norway and Sweden model hub for digital currency payments
- Project Icebreaker, a joint initiative from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the central banks of Israel, Norway, and Sweden, has successfully concluded a study on the potential benefits and challenges of using retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in international payments.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Bajaj Finserv got SEBI licence to start mutual fund business
- Financial services company Bajaj Finserv has received the final registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to start its mutual fund (MF) business operations under Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
City Union Bank rolls out credit card in partnership with 42 Card Solutions
- Private sector lender City Union Bank (CUB) has launched its first-ever credit card service, the Dhi CUB Visa Signature Credit Card, in partnership with credit cards-as-a-service provider 42 Card Solutions Pvt Ltd (42 CS)
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
CBDT gives five-year tax exemption for insolvency regulator IBBI
- In a big boost to the insolvency regime, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has granted tax exemption to certain specified incomes of the insolvency regulator Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) for 5 financial years starting from the current fiscal.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
RBI launches Mission ‘Har Payment Digital’ on the occasion of Digital Payments Awareness Week 2023
- The Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shri Shaktikanta Das launched the Mission ‘Har Payment Digital’ on the occasion of the Digital Payments Awareness Week (DPAW) 2023.
- This is part of RBI’s endeavour to make every person in India a user of digital payments.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
IRCTC partners with HDFC Bank to launch India’s co-branded travel credit card
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), the public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, and HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank have partnered to launch one of India’s most rewarding co-branded travel credit cards, known as the IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
Retail trade and NBFCs drive credit growth in services – RBI data
- According to the data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), significant offtake from retail and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) increased credit to services by 21.5% year-on-year (YoY) in Jan 2023 as against 5.7% in Jan 2022.
- RBI data showed loans to retail increased 21.8% Year on Year (YoY) in Jan 2023, up from 6.9% in Jan 2022.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
NSE gets SEBI approval to launch WTI crude oil & natural gas futures contracts
- The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received approval from the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch the rupee-denominated NYMEX WTI crude oil and natural gas (henry hub) futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Reserve Bank of India tightens norms for ARCs on income recognising fee
- As a step to curb asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) from breaching income recognition norms, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that ARCs will deduct amounts from net-owned funds while calculating the Capital Adequacy Ratio.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
PFRDA introduces T+2 settlement for partial withdrawal of NPS
- The Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) has reduced the timeline for withdrawal from the National Pension System (NPS) subscribers for processing partial withdrawal requests from 4 working days (T+4) to 2 working days (T+2) across all Central Record Keeping Agencies (CRAs).
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Niva Bupa launches health insurance plan ‘ReAssure 2.0’
- Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited (Formerly Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited), one of India’s largest independent health insurers, launched ‘ReAssure 2.0,’ which includes many industry-first features.
- ReAssure 2.0 improves on the current ReAssure plan’s 3 powerful benefits – ReAssure, Booster, and Safeguard – by providing a ‘+’ variant of these benefits to provide unrivalled benefits.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Banking mergers in India have been beneficial to the banking sector – Reserve Bank of India paper
- According to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) occasional paper, titled Do Bank Mergers Improve Efficiency? In the Indian Experience, banking mergers in India have been, on an average, beneficial to the banking sector as the financial performance and efficiency of acquirers improved post-merger.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
State Bank of India raises Rs 4,544 cr via allotment of AT-1 bonds
- State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it has raised Rs 4,544 crore through allotment of Basel III compliant AT-1 bonds like debentures.
- These non-convertible, taxable, perpetual, subordinated, unsecured, fully paid up Basel III compliant AT- 1 bonds like debentures have a coupon rate of 8.20% per annum (p.a).
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
SBI launches BHIM SBIPay for Singapore-India transfer after UPI-PayNow linkage
- State Bank of India (SBI) integrated its mobile application BHIM SBIPay, with UPI-PayNow linkage facilitating fund transfers from India to Singapore through registered mobile numbers and from Singapore to India using UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
NSE lists first ever green bonds issued by Indore Municipal Corporation
- The Indore Municipal Corporation’s Green Bonds have been listed on National Stock Exchange (NSE), marking the first-ever green bond issue by a municipal corporation in India.
What are Green Bonds?
- Green bonds are debt securities designated to finance environmentally friendly projects.
- In 2008, the World Bank issued its first green bond in response to such increasing demand.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
India & Singapore launch joint digital payment mechanism enabling easy and faster cross-border transactions
- The Prime Minister (PM) of India Shri Narendra Modi and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong launched cross-border connectivity between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and PayNow of Singapore through video conferencing.
- The launch was done by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Ravi Menon, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING NEWS
RBI issues final guidelines on interest rate risk in banking book
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released final guidelines on Interest Rate Risk in Banking Book (IRRBB), which require banks to measure, monitor, and disclose their exposure to IRRBB that may impact the capital base and future earnings of lenders.
- The final guidelines on IRRBB are in alignment with the revised framework issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).
- RBI will communicate the date of implementation in due course.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
RBI updates rules for foreign donations via NEFT, RTGS systems
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) related transaction code in National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) systems.
- The instructions will be effective from March 15, 2023.
- These instructions are issued under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
HDFC Bank becomes 1st Private sector bank to enable linking of ‘Rupay Credit on UPI’
- HDFC Bank has become the first private sector bank in India to take up a service that allows customers to use RuPay credit cards on a unified payments interface (UPI) with Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)and other UPI-enabled apps.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
Reserve Bank of India launches its 2nd Global Hackathon – HARBINGER 2023
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is organizing its 2nd global hackathon – “HARBINGER 2023 – Innovation for Transformation” with the theme ‘Inclusive Digital Services’.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
HDFC Bank Launches Offline Digital Payments Pilot Project Across 16 Cities
- HDFC Bank has launched a pilot project under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Regulatory Sandbox program in partnership with Crunchfish, to test offline digital payments for merchants and customers.
- HDFC is the first bank to launch a digital payment solution in a completely offline mode.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
SBI opens 3rd specialised Startup branch in Gurugram
- State Bank of India (SBI) has started its 3rd specialised branch for start-ups in the country at Gurugram to support and provide all banking services required by Start-ups under one roof.
- Gurugram has the 3rd highest number of unicorns – startups valued at $100 billion or more in India, behind Bengaluru and Mumbai.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
RBI’s financial literacy week starts from Feb 13 to Feb 17, 2023
- Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is being organised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from February 13 to February 17, 2023.
- The theme selected for current year Financial Literacy Week (FLW) is “Good Financial Behaviour – Your Saviour”.
- In 2022, RBI observed ‘financial literacy week’ from February 14 to February 18, 2022 with the theme “Go Digital – Go Secure“.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Bank of India Investment Managers Private Limited launches the Bank of India Multicap Fund
- Bank of India Investment Managers Private Limited (Investment manager of Bank of India Mutual Fund) has launched a New Fund Offer (NFO) – Bank of India Multi Cap Fund for investors looking to diversify their portfolio across large, mid and small cap categories.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
SEBI amends rules governing the mode of payment by market intermediaries
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified rules asking all market intermediaries and companies to make regulatory payments to it by way of direct credit into the bank account through digital payment systems.
- Under the rules, market intermediaries and companies are required to pay various fees to the SEBI.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
RBI to allow lending and borrowing of G-Secs & raises market trading hours
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das proposed to permit the lending and borrowing of government securities (G-Secs) to further develop the government securities market.
- This will provide investors with an avenue to deploy their idle securities, enhance portfolio returns and facilitate wider participation.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
RBI hikes repo rate to 6.5% & projects GDP growth at 6.4% for 2023-24
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.5% for FY 2022-23, and 5.3% for the next fiscal.
- Similarly, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate was adjusted to 6.25% from 6%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.75%.
- For the next fiscal, the RBI projected a growth rate of 6.4%.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Muthoot Finance launches NCD issue for 500 crore
- Muthoot Finance Ltd is planning to raise around Rs 500 crores through public issue of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (Secured NCDs) of the face value of Rs 1,000 each.
- The issue comes with a base size of Rs 100 crore with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 400 crore, aggregating up to a tranche limit of Rs 500 crore.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
Number of payment acceptance devices under PIDF expands to 1.87 crore as of Dec 2022
- As per the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) latest status update number of payment acceptance devices, including physical and digital, deployed under the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme as on December 31, 2022, stood at about 1.87 crore.
- The number of physical devices (PoS, mPoS (mobile PoS), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), etc) and digital devices (inter-operable QR code-based payments such as UPI QR, Bharat QR, etc.) stood at 4,85,415 (2,45,942 as at September-end 2021) and 1,82,88,974 (55,36,678), respectively.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
SEBI Strengthened framework for green bonds
- Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) strengthened the framework for green bonds by introducing the concept of ‘blue’ and ‘yellow’ bonds as new modes of sustainable finance.
- Blue bonds relate to water management and the marine sector, while yellow bonds pertain to solar energy.
- These are sub-categories of green debt securities.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
Reliance Retail becomes the first Indian retailer to accept the Digital Rupee
- Reliance Retail has become the first Indian retailer to introduce Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), also known as the digital rupee (e₹-R) at its stores.
- The launch of this facility was in collaboration with Innoviti Technologies, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
- At the launch event, V Subramaniam, Director of Reliance Retail Ltd, stated that just like the use of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the digital currency will also become a part of India’s payment ecosystem.
- The firm has piloted the use of the Digital Rupee in one store in Mumbai and plans to make this facility available in all its stores in Mumbai within the next 3 to 4 months, by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms.
- Reliance was also the first to introduce dynamic QR-based in-store UPI payments.
