SBI holiday-cum-shopping credit card with Yatra.com

State Bank of India and Yatra.com well known online travel portal, has launched a holiday-cum-shopping card that will enable Indian travelers to avail discounts across travel and holiday packages.
The new holiday card will enable travellers to avail discounts across Yatra.com travel and holiday packages, exclusive previews to its deals and benefits, including accelerated rewards on their purchases.
SBI Cards and Yatra.com are looking forward to a very positive response for the holiday credit card because card provides the best travel solutions to customers.
"As a company, we are constantly innovating to provide the best travel solutions to our customers. Our partnership with SBI Cards for the holiday card is a part of this overall approach. We are looking forward to a very positive response for the card," Yatra.com CEO Dhruv Shringi said.
The card has been designed to enable customers win reward points every time they use the card. So, the more they swipe their cards, the closer they get to their next dream holiday, he said.
"Travel continues to emerge as a growing segment for credit cards. The SBI Cards brand is based on the value proposition of 'Make Life Simple' ? the core promise of our brand. The proposition stands testimony to the company's continuous efforts of simplifying the lives of our customers,"
SBI Card mostly based on make life simple proposition. The proposition stands testimony to the company's continuous efforts of simplifying the lives of our customers,"

SBI focuses on investor confidence after Q4 earnings

State Bank of India (SBI) will mitigate risk on its agriculture portfolio by buying insurance cover for all crop loans.
The nation’s largest lender, which had almost doubled bad assets in farm loans in fiscal 2011, will link the crop loans to crop insurance.
“Delinquencies will be in crop failure. In that case, crop insurance will take care of the losses,” chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said in an interview with Bloomberg UTV for Banker’s Trust programme.
The bank will also call an analyst meet in a week for a “threadbare discussion” on its dismal fourth quarter earning—a sort of soul searching exercise on what went wrong and why.
It had provided for bad loans, home loans and employees’ pension; as a result, SBI posted a Rs.21 crore profit in its fourth quarter against analysts’ expectation of Rs.3,000 crore.
The stock tanked 17% at a stretch, wiping out more than Rs.28,000 crore of investors’ worth—between 17 May, the day result was declared, and 26 May—before recovering marginally. On Monday, SBI stock rose 0.07% to close at Rs.2,236.
The proposed meeting with analysts, Chaudhuri expects, will restore confidence of the investor community, and reassure them that the weak fourth quarter earning was a one-off phenomenon.
The share of bad debts accruing from agriculture was Rs.4,524 crore, or 18% of the total non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad debts, in fiscal 2011.
The total farm loan portfolio of SBI rose 21.18% to Rs.94,826 crore in fiscal 2011 out of which 6.37% has turned bad. This is sharply up from last year’s 3.66%.
“We did not expect this,” said Chaudhuri.
“NPA in agriculture is a problem area for SBI. If they link their agri-portfolio to crop insurance and get money for crop failure related delinquencies, it solves SBI’s problem to a great extent; but it all depends on what kind of premium they will have to pay,” said Hatim Broachwala, analyst with Mumbai-based domestic brokerage Fortune Financials.
The bank has also drawn down close to Rs.8,000 crore from its reserves to set aside money to pay employee pensions.
Chaudhuri defended the move to erode its core capital.
“It is not by choice that we dipped into the reserves,” he said, adding that the bank’s operating profit was not enough to set aside the provision from. If the bank would have done that, it could have “distorted all important ratios,” Chaudhuri said.
According to the chairman, SBI is readying for an introspection of its key segments and business parameters in a bid to deal with a few critical issues such as an unprecedented rise in its NPAs, especially from farm sector, and a fall in its NIM (net interest margin) in the fourth quarter.
Sequentially, the NIM, a key parameter of profitability, fell close to 0.50% to 3.07%.
The analysts’ meet assumes importance because SBI is readying to raise capital through a Rs.20,000 crore rights issue.
Chaudhuri said being the “flagship bank” of the government, the nod for the issue will not be a problem for the bank to secure, especially when the government has given such a nod to all the other banks.
“For the government, SBI has a special place,” Chaudhuri said confidently.
Since fiscal 2009, in the wake of the global meltdown, SBI has restructured assets worth Rs.34,349 crore, close to 15% of which has turned bad so far.
Some analysts expect bad debts to rise as much as 30%.
However, the SBI chief said he is confident that recovery will not be hampered. “Restructured loans are backed by securities. The companies are cash-poor but asset-rich. Where the underlying assets are healthy, we don’t expect any deterioration in asset quality.”
“Besides, they (the restructured firms) are not fly-by-night operators,” Chaudhuri said.
Chaudhuri wants the bank’s credit growth to moderate between 16% and 17%, from 18-20% earlier, and deposits to grow at 21%.
“Our CD (credit-deposit) ratio is already at 76%. This will lend some semblance of balance,” Chaudhuri said.
The banking regulator had earlier criticized banks for high CD ratios as that makes asset liability management a challenge and may turn into a systemic risk.

Credit card operations of SBI show good results

State Bank of India has seen an improvement in performance of its credit card segment in the fiscal last ended.
After long years of losses, the credit card segment of the bank has finally borne profits and that too at a time when results have been coming negative from all segments of the bank.
The credit card business booked profits worth Rs 7.10 crore in the last fiscal as against losses of Rs 153 crore in the fiscal prior to that.
Customer card spends has increased by 30% to Rs 6452 crore, the bank said.
SBI card currently has 2.3 million cards.

SBI up lending rate by 10 bps to 7.6%

State Bank of India (SBI) increased base rate or the minimum lending rate for the new borrower by 10 basis points to 7.6 %, a move that would make all kinds of advances, including corporate loans, costlier.
The bank has revised the base rate below which bank cannot offer loans, upwards by 10 basis points from 7.5 % to 7.6 %, effective from October 21, 2010, SBI informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
This is the first review of the base rate since it was introduced in July this year. As per the RBI guideline, banks have to review their base rate every quarter.
With the increase in base rate, all kinds of loans excluding housing and auto loans would be dearer by at least 10 basis points (0.1 %).
Currently, SBI is offering teaser home and car loan till December and rates would be as announced earlier.
The revision in base rate follows the RBI's move to raise short-term lending (repo) and borrowing (reverse repo) rates in its September monetary review.
In order to bring in more transparency, the base rate was introduced as replacement for the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) from July 1 this year.
SBI has also raised BPLR for the existing customers by 25 basis points to 12.5 % from earlier 12.25 %. The new rate would be effective from tomorrow.
Earlier this month, SBI hiked fixed deposit rates by up to 75 basis points. The bank raised deposit rates from 25-75 basis points (0.25-0.75 %) across various maturities.
For 91-180 days term deposits, SBI provides 5.5 % interest, up 75 basis points from the existing rate.
A fixed deposit with maturity period between 1 year and 554 days was raised by 25 basis points to 7 %, while deposits for 555 days would attract 7.5 %.
The interest rate on term deposits of between 556 days and 1,000 days under different slabs, has been increased by 50 basis points, to 7.75 %.

Credit Card which satisfy your all requires

A credit card helps the user to purchase the goods and services without the risk of carry the money with them. When the purchase is made, the Credit card holder gives the card to the seller. The seller swipes the card and feeds the secret PIN number as told by the card holder. After the end of each month the card holder is provided with a statement sent from the Authority providing the details of the transactions made by the user during the month. It also provides the information about the exact date of payment of the dues. The company usually provides the customer a grace period of 20 to 40 days depending upon the amount of credit card issued by the organization. There are various type of organization that provide the credit cards like SBI, ICICI,  HDFC, ABN-AMRO etc. The company that issues the card usually charges a certain amount of interest on the amount of total purchase made by the user.
The Credit card provides various kind of benefit to the user. It allows the user to get the short term loans within a small period of time depending on the fact that the total charges are not higher than the maximum credit limit of the card. Moreover it reduces the risk of carrying the liquid cash in order to purchase the goods.
HDFC Credit cards also provide several kinds of benefits to the users. In order to satisfy the different needs of the different customer they have designed their credit cards into various categories. They have cards like Classic Cards, Special benefit Cards, Premium Cards and Commercial Cards. In the head of Classic Cards there are different cards like Silver Credit, Value Plus, Gold Credit Card, Titanium, Women Gold, Platinum Plus, Visa Signature, and World Master Credit Card. The Commercial Cards are also subdivided into several parts like Corporate Credit Cards, Corporate Platinum Credit Card, and Business Credit Card etc.
Like other credit cards ABN-AMRO credit cards provide the user the power to manage the all the finances of them. The ABN-AMRO Freedom credit cards provide different kinds of benefits like it reduces the prices of petrol at the time of making the payment. Through the use of this card the user can earn bonus points. As per the rules the customer earns one bonus points for making a purchase of more than Rs.100. This bonus points can be exchanged later on with an exciting gift hamper. It has also got different variety of cards to satisfy the demand of the different strata of the customer. The different cards are Platinum Card, Make My Trip Card,Smart Gold Card etc.
So the Credit cards provide different benefits to the different people and in this busy life every body should have the access of the cards in order to make their life more speedy.
Also Apply SBI Credit cards Online

Credit card companies offers good plans in festive season

What most spenders like about the festive season is the huge discounts, attractive schemes and offers most consumers durable companies come out on their products and services. With the economy picking up and the credit card usage increasing once again, card issuing companies too have tied up with various brands to offer tempting discounts, cash back offers, finance schemes.
And these offers are not just applicable on credit cards alone but are extended to some debit cards as well. “Apart from offering bonus points over and above the regular reward points earned on spending on the ICICI Bank credit cards and debit cards this season, we have come out with exclusive discounts on lifestyle and electronics too, “ says an ICICI spokesperson.
During the coming week, when you go shopping make sure you corner those extra savings and rewards that your credit card can offer you.
Apparel: You can avail discounts of up to 10% if you swipe your HSBC credit cards and Axis bank to purchase clothes. HSBC, for instance, has come out with festive scheme — Happy Swipes, where its credit and debit cardholders are eligible for cash back of 5% on making any purchase from Fabindia and Jashn stores on a minimum transaction of Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000, respectively.
In case you wish to pick something from Star Bazaar this season, you can avail 5% cash back on a minimum spend of Rs 1,500. Under the cash back offer, the money gets credited to your account after the purchase has taken place. Similarly, by making a minimum purchase of Rs 3,000 on your Axis bank credit or debit card, you can avail additional 10% discount on purchase of any apparel at Central and Pantaloon outlets.
Dining: There is something for your palate too. As an American Express cardholder, if you book a flight to Hong Kong through Cathay Pacific Airline this month, and can participate in the “Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival”, which is being organised from October 28 to October 31, you would get a free wine pass. However, if you travel first or business class (card), you would receive 5 wine tokens in addition to it.
Travel: If you are in a holiday mood this season, make sure you book tickets online. Several credit card issuers like HSBC and SBI have tied up with online travel portals like makemytrip.com, ezeego1.com for cash back offers of up to 30% on booking through them.
Under IRCTC and SBI card tie-up, you are eligible for refund up to 17% on all hotel and railway bookings, if the transaction is worth Rs 7,500 and above. Also, you can earn discounted tickets this season by using your card. Under the ‘Bonus Pe Flying Bonus’ offer by SBI cards, you can earn one discounted Kingfisher airline ticket if you swipe your card for purchase worth between Rs 60,000-one lakh.
Any purchase above Rs 1 lakh can get you two such tickets. “These offers are for both new as well as existing cardholders, provided the new cardholders have enrolled within the offer period,” says Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Card. Similarly, you can save up to 10% on the base fare of your GoAir ticket by using your HSBC credit or debit card.
For your city travel you can make use of your Indian Oil Citibank credit card wherein you will get free fuel worth Rs 300 (maximum Rs 600) on every spend of Rs 30,000 on the card. The free fuel would be credited as Turbo Points to your card and will reflect in your credit card statement. The scheme, which has been running under its special offer is valid till the end of November.

Govt plans low rates home loans for paramilitary personnel

In an attempt to make home ownership easier for paramilitary personnel, the Central government is planning to launch a scheme under which home loans are made available to them at concessional rates. “The scheme will allow a soldier from a paramilitary force to avail cheaper home loans at least two years prior to his retirement,” a senior home ministry officer told Hindustan Times.
The official added that the government is formulating the exact modalities of this scheme, such as loans rates and tenures and has initiated talks with several banks for its implementation.
“The State Bank of India has in-principle agreed to be part of this scheme,” the official said.
In fact, SBI has already been closely associated with the armed forces. The bank had recently launched Defence Salary Package (DSP) for the Indian Army whereby it aims to open close to 12 lakh accounts of Army personnel under the scheme.
The DSP offers free drafts, cheque books, fund transfers and ATM cards to the soldiers of Indian Army to any of SBI Group’s over 15,000 branches.
The scheme also offers home, auto and personal loans to Army personnel at 25 basis points lower than the floor rate.

No SMS services to banks customers for transactions

Bank customers and equity trading account holders have stopped getting transaction alerts on their mobiles as the government has put a ban on bulk SMS service in wake of the pending judgement in the Ayodhya title suit.
In view of the Government of India directive to mobile operators, all bulk SMS messages have been banned in all service areas till further notice. The customers will not receive SMS alerts or messages during this period, ICICI Bank informed its customer through its website.
Usually, a bank customer of gets SMS alert for their transaction done through any mean either through ATM or internet.
At the same time, credit card transaction is reported to the individual customers within few minutes after the payment is made.
As a result of this, customers may not get information of fraudulent transaction taking place during the intervening period as the ban has been extended till September 30.
"We would advise you to exercise additional caution in your banking and credit card transactions," HDFC Bank informed its customers.
GSM lobby group COAI, today said it has requested the Telecom Department to relax the ban for certain essential services for the benefit of the subscribers.
"We have already written to DoT to relax the ban for essential services. We are yet to hear from them," said COAI Director General Rajan Mattews.
According to a senior official of Air2web, a mobile messaging service provider, alerts generated by bank is not being sent to customers as it is being treated as under bulk SMS category by mobile operators.
The alerts generated by bank is routed to mobile operators through middleware firm like Air2web which has about 35 banks as customers including State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and UCO Bank.
The ban has been imposed to prevent any rumour being spread to fan communal disturbance in the wake of verdict on the Ayodhya title suit scheduled on September 30.
"The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has today issued orders in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs to all Mobile Telecom Service Providers in the country that all bulk SMS and all bulk MMS messages shall remain banned in all service areas till September 30," the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said in a statement today.
The order was issued to all mobile telecom service providers in the country for "banning all bulk SMSes and MMSes in all service areas with immediate effect till September 30".

SBI the most trusted credit card brand

SBI Card has been voted as the most trusted brand in the credit card category in Reader’s Digest Asia Trusted Brands Survey, for the third year in a row.
Accepting the award, Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd, said, “We have consistently invested in new technologies and introduced new service offerings to make life simple for our customers. We are delighted that our customers have voted us as the most trusted credit card brand for the third year in a row.”
SBI Card has focused on customers-centric initiatives and offerings over the past decade. The recently concluded 250 service camps were one such initiative that helped SBI Card proactively reach out to 2,10,000 customers in 31 cities in India. SBI Credit Card is the only credit card company in India that offers customers the ease of 13 different modes of payment. Last year, SBI Card won several Indian and Asian awards including the most trusted brand in credit card category in the Reader’s Digest Asia Trusted
Brands 2009 Survey, a consumer choice award from CNBC Awaaz and ‘Asia’s Best Mature Captive Services Delivery’ award from the Shared Services Outsourcing Network (SSON).

Jet Airways associates with SBI Credit Cards to offer simple payment option

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today announced a tie-up with SBI Card the joint offering from State Bank of India and GE Capital, to offer its guests a unique travel option.
This arrangement is aimed at making air travel more affordable for guests across India. Jet Airways’ guests can now opt to convert their air tickets purchased on www.jetairways.com, using an SBI Credit Card into a zero % equated monthly installment (EMI).
Under this offer, SBI Credit Cardholders would be able to choose an option to convert their ticket purchases on jetairways.com into a zero percent EMI with tenure of 6 months.
Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, said “Jet Airways is committed to significantly enhance the travel options available for all its guests, with an eye on convenience. The tie up with the SBI Card is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical and cost-effective for family travel. This new scheme bears testimony to our customer-centric approach wherein Jet Airways’ has time and again created products catering to the specific travel needs of our guests.”
This scheme will help a family to undertake visits to tourist spots and encourage domestic tourism, he further added.
“We are delighted to partner with Jet Airways and offer SBI Card holders an affordable travel option. This offering is in line with our focus on the travel segment as it enables air travelers a unique opportunity to fly now and pay later without any additional costs.,” said Mr. Abhay Kumar Singh, CEO, SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.

Visa International:Huge growth in plastic money transactions

Visa International said that it expects an enormous growth in plastic money transactions in India in the next five-years.
"The usage of plastic money now is just 2.5 % of the USD-700 billion consumers are spending in India annually," Visa International Country Head, Uttam Nayak, told PTI today, after the company was selected by State Bank of India (SBI) as a joint venture partner for the merchant acquiring business.
The international average (of plastic money usage) is 9 %.
"Within the next five-years, we see a huge potential in this field. More people are converting to plastic money," he said.
It is Visa's first such kind of joint venture here and it expects that the tremendous success it gained in Brazil can be repeated in India, he said.
Visa entered Brazil through such a joint venture and within 12-years the number of terminals rose to 1.2-million from the earlier 50,000, he said.
Earlier today, India's largest lender SBI said it has selected US-based Elavon Incorporation and Visa International as its joint venture partners for the merchant acquiring business.
This is after the bank had floated a Request For Proposal (RFP) for selection of joint venture (JV) partners for merchant acquiring business last year.
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