SBI Bank Holiday Calender

Description

SBI Bank Holiday Calender 2014 - 2015 

Now view Bank holidays based on State/UT/Circle options through this simple and intuitive app.

SBI initiates three-pronged strategy to boost its home loan business

Mumbai, December 29: The State Bank of India has initiated a three-pronged strategy to push its home loan business. The country's largest lender will sell its home loan products through the entire group network instead of limiting it to the bank, develop a mechanism to identify right customers for home loans, and implement a uniform delivery system across its branches, a top official said.

"We are looking to grow home loans at 15%-17% in FY16 and how to leverage our group resources," said B Sriram, managing director and group executive (national banking) at SBI.

The state-run bank, which owns more than one fourth of the housing loan market in the country, grew its home loan business 14% year-on-year for the quarter ended September at around Rs 1.49 lakh crore.

With the Reserve Bank of India issuing guidelines for licensing small banks and entry of players such as Bandhan and IDFC, the home loan market is expected to get more competitive in the coming years.

Sriram said SBI plans to connect about 40,000-50,000 counsellors working for its non-bank group subsidiaries such as SBI Mutual Fund and SBI Life Insurance to source home loans, to boost its customer reach. For example, an outsourced counsellor working for SBI Mutual Fund would also approach his clientele for SBI home loans, for which she would earn commissions.

"Alternative channels could be the main channel next 10 years in the banking industry as they attract young customers," Sriram told ET in an interaction. SBI is also working on a mechanism to identify the right customer to offer home loans or any other cross-selling product like mutual fund or insurance. For example, if a customer enters a SBI branch and does a transaction, immediately a screen will prop up on the branch official's computer showing the customer's profile and product suitability.

IBA terms staff unions' demand for 23% wage hike irrational

Mumbai, December 25: Indian Banks’ Association has termed the demand by the United Forum of Bank Union for a 23 per cent increase in pay as “illogical and irrational”.  “Managing Committee of IBA and the Chairmen of all the banks were unequivocal in saying that the demand of 23 per cent increase of Unions/Associations is unaffordable, illogical, exorbitant and irrational,” it said.

The banks are willing to offer a 11 per cent hike on salary and allowances which the lenders say will translate into a 12.5 per cent hike on the balance sheet cost.  The IBA said this number has been arrived at after taking into account the paying capacity of the banks, lower profitability, higher requirements for provisions and further capital requirement under Basel-III.

Earlier, All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) said a meeting of the UFBU held at Mumbai on December 17 had expressed its dissatisfaction with the delay in settling demands for wage revision.

Fourteen rounds of discussion have been held so far between the union and IBA and consensus on effective date of implementation and merger of dearness allowance have been arrived at. However, they have not been able to arrive at an agreement on wage hike yet.

The UFBU had said that it would be holding a one-day all-India strike on January 7 followed by a four-day strike across the country from January 21-24. An indefinite strike would be initiated from March 16 to achieve the demand, it had added.

On the other IBA has made an appeal to UFBU to give up the agitational path and to return to the table for further negotiations. In the meantime, IBA has also requested all member banks to assess their paying capacity and advise them accordingly.

Negotiate, don’t agitate: IBA to unions

17.5% hike in the previous settlement was an exception: IBA

Mumbai, December 25: In the ongoing tug-of-war between unions and bank managements on the issue of wage revision, the Indian Banks’ Association has weighed in saying that the previous bipartite wage settlement was an exception as compared to earlier settlements and cannot be quoted as precedent.

Wage issues

This observation by IBA, which is the representative body of banks, comes in the backdrop of the 10th bipartite wage settlement in the banking sector being delayed for more than two years and unions, representing the interests of about 10 lakh employees, deciding to intensify their agitation for a wage hike.

According to the unions’ game plan, bank employees will not report to work for five days— January 7, and January 21 to 24— next month to press their demand for a wage hike. If bank managements do not settle the issue of wage revision in January-February then the unions have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from mid-March.

While bank managements are willing to offer 11 per cent wage hike, the expectation of the unions is for a 25 per cent (negotiable to 23 per cent) wage hike. In the previous (9th) bipartite wage settlement, covering 2007-2012, an average wage hike of around 17.5 per cent was given.

Aberration

Pointing out that in the past seventh and eighth bipartite settlements, the wage increase was between 10 per cent and 13 per cent, the IBA, in a statement quoting its Chief Executive MV Tanksale, said, “The ninth bipartite settlement was an exception…

“In the current wage settlement, a hike of 11 per cent on salary and allowances has been offered, based on the paying capacity of all the banks, lower profitability, higher requirements for provisions and further capital requirement under Basel-III, translating into 12.5 per cent on the balance sheet cost. This too is unaffordable to some of the banks.”

Back to the table

The Association said the issues regarding wage negotiation deliberated in the Negotiating Committee of the IBA were further discussed in a larger forum— Managing Committee of IBA— and the Chairmen of all the banks felt the demand for 23 per cent increase made by the Unions/Associations is unaffordable, illogical, exorbitant and irrational.

While IBA has appealed to the Unions/Associations to give up the agitation and return to negotiations to resolve the wage revision issue, unions don’t seem to be in a mood to relent.

Vishwas Utagi, General Secretary, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, said bank managements are stonewalling employees’ demands for a wage hike by citing profitability constraints, the need to shore up capital for meeting the new Basel regulatory standard, and the provisioning burden.

“Bank employees are not responsible for the bad loans that have accumulated in the banking system. In fact, they have helped banks grow their business and profitability. So, there is no reason why bank managements should deny our demands,” he said.

IBA keen on early settlement of wage issues with PSU bank employees

Mumbai, December 25: IBA has urged Bank unions to give up their agitation and to continue their negotiation and is keen on early settlement of wage hike issues of the public sector banks.

It has also requested all member banks to assess their paying capacity and advise them accordingly.

The United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) had said that it would be holding a one-day all-India strike on January 7 followed by a four-day strike across the country from January 21-24.

An indefinite strike would be initiated from March 16 to achieve the demand, it had added.

After 20 years, Rs.1 paper notes to make a comeback

New Delhi, December 25: One rupee may not buy you much today, yet the Government is keen to start printing ₹1 notes after a gap of almost two decades.

The Government has notified ‘Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2015’, which will come into effect from January 1, 2015. Due to higher cost and for freeing capacity to print higher denomination notes, printing ₹1 note was discontinued in November 1994, followed by ₹2 in February 1995, and ₹5 in November 1995. Since then, only coins have been issued for these denominations. However, old notes are still in circulation and remain legal tender.

As before, the new one rupee note will have the signature of the Finance Secretary. Apart from the one rupee note, all other paper currency (₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000) have the signature of the RBI Governor, as these are issued by the Reserve Bank of India, whereas ₹1 is issued by the Government of India.

The new ₹1 note will be different in terms of colour, too. It will be predominantly pink and green. Earlier, the ₹1 currency note had a predominantly indigo colour. Also, the new note will have ‘Bharat Sarkar’ on its masthead, with ‘Government of India’ printed below that. All other currencies have ‘Bhartiya Reserve Bank’ and ‘Reserve Bank of India’ printed on them. While the notification does not give any reason for resuming the printing of ₹1 notes, it is believed that reports of coin shortage and the rising incidence of melting coins might have prompted the move. The notification does not mention how many notes will be printed and issued.

In the last year of its printing, 44 million pieces of ₹1 notes were issued. Despite the RBI’s appeal to change these notes for coins, these are still in circulation. However, there is no current estimate of such notes in circulation.

According to the last official number in RBI’s Annual Report for the year ended June 2002, a total of 3,076 million pieces of ₹1 notes (value ₹308 crore) were in circulation at the end of March 2002.

RBI staff to join banking sector strike on January 7

Thiruvananthapuram, December 22: Reserve Bank employees have decided to observe a strike on January 7, 2015, in solidarity with the cause of the United Forum of Bank Unions in the commercial banking sector.

The All-India Reserve Bank Employees Association and the All-India Reserve Bank Workers’ Federation have urged the RBI Governor to intervene to bring peace in the banking sector, stating that the RBI cannot remain a mute spectator.

The Association and Federation advised units to observe peaceful and organised action in all RBI offices and liaise with units of the United Forum in the run-up to the strike.

“We have got an important stake in bank employees’ success and achievements. Their settlement has provided us the basis of our wage negotiations, which are pending,” said Samir Ghosh and SV Mahadik, RBI employee union leaders.

“Indian Banks’ Association has created a desperate situation for bank employees whose patience has run out. The Government is silent, unconcerned about the turmoil in this sensitive sector and the plight of millions of customers.”

Bankers have made huge profits in 2012, 2013 and 2014 from the toil and sweat of employees. But they refuse to give them a modest wage increase forcing them to strike work off and on, the leaders noted.