Now, SMS/e-mail alerts to protect you from identity thefts

BL : Beenya Parmar :Ramkumar:MUMBAI, DEC. 16:2012

Credit information provider Experian’s new initiative

 

Are you worried that a fraudster might fake your identity to wangle a loan/ get a credit card from a bank or get mobile phone SIM card to perpetrate fraud or other offences?

Don’t sweat. Some help may be at hand in the form of an identity theft protection service.

Credit information service provider Experian India plans to bring to its customers the security of a surveillance SMS/ e-mail alert the moment a bank or a telecom company seeks credit information report in their name. “Once you know that somebody is trying to misuse your personal information, you can take remedial steps,” said Vikram Narayan, Managing Director and Country Manager, Experian India.

Damiano Cracolici, Head of Decision Analytics, Experian Services India, said “In the UK and US, most of the applications for credit go to a credit bureau. So if a search is made in your name, you immediately get an SMS about the search….The identity theft protection service is yet to be introduced in India.”

Narayan said Experian has three businesses in India – Credit Information Bureau, which is a joint venture between Experian and seven Indian financial institutions including Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Axis Bank; and wholly-owned subsidiaries for Decision Analytics and Marketing Services.

The identification theft business will see Experian entering the Business-to-Consumer space through a joint venture.

Largely, Experian’s credit bureau business comes from retail and SME segments. In terms of sharing information, a healthy respect for credit bureau has developed and till date no banks have refused to provide data, which is significant development, said the Experian chief.

Observing that application fraud is a growing epidemic, Narayan said, to tackle this problem Experian last year launched a ‘hunter service’ to enable the Indian banking sector to collaborate and share information for early detection of potentially fraudulent applications and helps identify fraud rings.

The hunter prevents the fraud at the point of application and Hunter achieves this without affecting customer service levels and turnaround times.

Private ,public sector banks on nationwide strike onon December 20

 ibnlive:

INDIA, Posted on Dec 17, 2012 at 05:34pm IST

Mumbai: Around 700,000 employees and officers of the public sector, private sector and foreign banks will strike work all over India on Thursday,Dec 20th, an official said in Mumbai on Monday. Work in 27 public sector banks, 12 old generation private sector banks and eight foreign banks shall come to a standstill due to the strike, said Vishwas Utagi, secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA).

"We are protesting the central government's move to push amendments to the proposed banking laws bill which is placed before Parliament. We have already served a strike notice to the Indian Banks' Association," Utagi told mediapersons.

He said the banking community was opposed to the proposed amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which are aimed at handing over Indian private sector banking to multi-national banks and increasing presence of Indian corporate and foreign direct investment in public sector banks.

According to Utagi, the proposed amendments would allow acquisition and merger of banks, infuse more foreign capital banks, unrestricted voting rights and granting licenses to corporate business houses to launch banks.

"There is an attempt to close down rural branches and resorting to large number of ultra-small branches, thereby privatising rural banking operations, lack of stringent measures to recover increasing non-performing assets and bad loans," Utagi said.

Demanding large-scale recruitment in the banking sector, Utagi said the banking employees are also protesting outsourcing of regular banking jobs, thereby jeopardising permanent jobs and job security.

As part of the day-long strike, bank employees shall take part in rallies and processions in all cities in the country. A massive rally is also scheduled at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

BL : mumbai :17 th Dec 2012

MUMBAI, DEC 17: 

Employees and officers from 26 public sector banks, 12 old-generation private sector banks and eight foreign banks will observe an all-India strike on December 20 to protest the UPA Government’s move to push amendment to the banking laws.

The All-India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), the Bank Employees’ Federation of India and officers’ unions such as the All India Bank Officers’ Association have called for a strike in which nearly 7 lakh bank employees and officers are expected to participate, said Vishwas Utagi, Secretary, AIBEA.

“The present generation of politicians must raise their voice in Parliament against the proposed amendments to the banking laws which are aimed at handing over Indian private sector banking to multinational banks and increasing the presence of Indian corporates and FDI in public sector banks,” said Utagi.

The proposed amendments to the banking law are aimed at effecting the merger of banks, allowing more private and foreign capital in banks, and upping the ceiling on voting rights. Further, the amendments will enable the central bank to grant licenses to corporate business houses to start their new banks.

“There is an attempt to close down rural branches and resort to a number of ultra small branches thereby privatising rural banking operations through contractual business correspondents and lack of stringent measures to recover increasing NPAs and bad loans,” said the trade union leader

Axis Bank launches e-Gift card

BS :Tania Jaleel / Mumbai Dec 17, 2012, 16:12 IST

Customers can purchase these using their credit or debit cards

Axis Bank today launched its e-Gift card, making it the first Indian bank to do so.

 The facility of e- Gift Card can be availed at www.gogiftacard.com where a customer can buy and send a card of their choice by either e-mailing it or sending it via SMS to the person they want to send the gift card to.

Customers can purchase these online e- Gift Cards using their credit or debit card issued by their respective bank. 

All purchase transactions shall be limited to sites that support verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure Code for two factor authentication.

 The validity of the card is 1 year from the date of issuance.

You can soon apply and get SBI home loan sanctioned online

For the tech savy: The ‘do-it-yourself’ convenience for prospective home loan customers comes at a time when the bank is seeing a spurt in home loan applications due to competitive interest rates.


ramkumar :BL;MUMBAI, DEC. 16:2012

 

State Bank of India intends to turn up the heat on its competitors in the retail loans segment.

India’s largest bank plans to put in place an Internet-based customer acquisition solution that will allow prospective customers to not only apply for home loans but also generate in-principle loan sanction letter online.

The move to have an online customer acquisition solution could save the net-savvy GenNext customers the bother of repeat visits to the bank’s branch for completing the formalities associated with getting a home loan.

Instead, the bank’s sales executives will follow-up on the loan proposal with the customer, collect necessary documentary proofs and forward the application to Retail Assets Processing Centres for processing.

SBI’s gambit to provide the ‘do-it-yourself’ convenience for prospective home loan customers comes at a time when it is seeing a spurt in home loan applications on the back of competitive interest rates.

The bank is charging 10 per cent and 10.15 per cent interest on home loans up to Rs 30 lakh and above Rs 30 lakh, respectively. Besides, it has halved the processing charges and waived pre-payment penalty. The Web-based customer acquisition platform will provide the customer the option to request “expert callback” should he/ she get stuck at any stage.

VALIDATION PROCESS

Once an online loan proposal is submitted by the customer with details such as the loan amount, income and KYC (Know-Your-Customer), it will go through a four-stage validation process.

The components of validation will be — online PAN verification; online enquiry with Credit Information Bureau; online evaluation of loan eligibility; evaluation of the customer based on internal risk scoring model and loan policy, said a senior official.

Post the validation stage, the customer will be e-mailed a digitally signed copy of the in-principle loan sanction letter.

All regional branch offices of the bank, which deal with home loans, will be mapped to the customer acquisition solution and the customer will be given the option of selecting the nearest branch from where he wants to take the home loan.

LOGIN CODE

Customers will be given a unique login code to access the status of their application at each stage of the sourcing and loan processing period. The bank will have a dash board for monitoring follow up of proposals.

The customer acquisition solution will have the provision of ‘property search’ so that customers can search the properties based on various categories such as area, price, builder, and geographical location.

If the online customer acquisition solution clicks with home loans, the same will be extended to cover other retail banking products, said the official.

As at September-end 2012, SBI saw about 13 per cent year-on-year growth in home loans to Rs 1,08,381 crore against Rs 95,947 crore as at September-end 2011. The bank has about 26 per cent market share in the home loans segment.

Be your own man, Tata advises Cyrus Mistry

Hindustan Times :Dec 14,2012

Be your own man, Ratan Tata has advised Cyrus Mistry, who will succeed him at the helm of the $100-billion (Rs 550,000 crore) Tata Group in two weeks.

“I don’t think it is right to have a ghost to shadow over somebody,” says Tata, dismissing any notion that his larger-than-life persona would linger over the group after he retires on December 28, when he turns 75.
Tata has told Mistry, 31 years his junior: “You should be your own person, you should take your own call and you should decide what you want to do.”

Tata spoke about his 50 years with the group — 21 as its chairman — the highs and lows of his tenure, his equation with Mistry and his post-retirement plans.

Mistry, currently vice-chairman of the conglomerate that spans automobiles, IT, hotels, tea and steel across 80 countries, has been working closely with Tata to prepare for the transition.

On his success mantra for Mistry, Tata said: “I told him the same things that I told myself when JRD (late JRD Tata) handed over the mantle to me. The first reaction of anybody is to be Mr JRD Tata, because you are filling his shoes.

“I instantly told myself, ‘I can never do that’. I will never be him much as I try to imitate him. So I took a decision to be myself and to do what I thought was the right thing. I told Cyrus the same thing.”

Asked if his counsel would be available to his successor, Tata disclosed that the two of them would have lunch every couple of weeks “over something and we will talk about whatever he wants to talk about.” Mistry asks him from time to time, ‘is this ok, that ok’. Tata would tell him to look at things “if I were not there because you should be your own person.”

“Every act you do and every move you make has to stand the test of public scrutiny.”

That, he said, was the test he had given himself. “If it stands the test of public scrutiny, do it....if it doesn’t, don’t do it.”

Tata will remain chairman of the various Tata trusts, which hold 66% shares of Tata Sons.

Asked whether this would not give him a large influence over the group, he said: “I think I would have to wear a different hat, being the major shareholder. The same kind of view that a shareholder might have, not a chairman’s view of the company.”

Looking ahead, Tata said he believed the group it was poised to continue to grow, adding “I think Cyrus Mistry should have his space and define where he would like it to grow.”

Asked about changes that he had not been able to achieve in the group, Tata mentioned the company’s feudal nature. “We are very hierarchical — not feudal — given to honouring years of experience... We don’t touch each other’s feet but we still almost bow down every time when one passes,” he said.

Describing his long tenure as a “journey of great learning”, Tata said of his life with the 144-year-old conglomerate: “On the whole it has been a very rewarding experience. I tried to uphold the values and ethical standards that were there. I feel satisfied that I have done my best.”

Asked about moments of frustration, Tata said that there were many, recalling his first job in the foundries of TELCO where, when one asked why something was being done in a particular way, he was told, “this is the way we have done it and it is the best way”.

“I have tried to change (that approach). I have been constantly telling people to encourage questions ... It has changed to some extent. I would be lying if I were to say it has really changed. There are pockets which have changed and there are pockets which continue to be as they were,” he said.

On life after retirement, Tata feels people want to do things that they have always wanted to do.

“I will spend more time on technology, for example, which is quite a passion with me. As an architect I would like to once again go back to it. Then there are things like piano which I learnt when I was nine. I haven’t played it since and would like to relearn to play the piano.”

The chairman of the group that makes Jaguar and Land Rover is a fan of the Ferrari. “I have two or three cars that I like but today Ferrari would be the best car I have driven in terms of being an impressive car,” he said.

Person in archival photograph 'Gumnami Baba' could have been Netaji: Book

Hindustan Times :DEc 17, 2012


Throwing light into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, a book has come up with an archival photograph suggesting that a secretive holy man who died in Faizabad in 1985 could have been the nationalist leader living a life of disguise.

Found from the archives of international news agency Associated Press (AP), the 1969 picture produced in the book "India's Biggest Cover-up" by researcher Anuj Dhar shows a Bose look-alike standing besides the Vietnamese delegation in Paris during truce talks with the US.

Intriguingly, the holy man "Bhagwanji", also known as "Gumnami Baba", had told his followers that he was present during the talks, says the book.

"This could be a picture of the 'Baba' and he could have been Netaji," Dhar told PTI.

The Mukherjee Commission, which had probed into the uncanny resemblance of the holy man with Bose, had rejected the opinion that he died in a plane crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.

Even Suresh Bose, one of the older brothers of Netaji and a member of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Inquiry Committee, had stated on oath before his death in 1972 that his brother was alive at the time.

The rare black and white photograph shows the Vietnamese delegation led by their Nobel laureate leader Le Duc Tho at the first open session of the truce negotiations with an American delegation.

Clearly resembling Bose with his overall contour, a bearded man with an intense look on his face is standing alongside expressionless journalists and other officials  behind the Vietnamese delegation.

"Much of his face is covered with moustache, beard and big-framed glasses. It is unusual for diplomats and southeast Asians to sport beards like this," Dhar writes in the book suggesting that he could be Bose.

The author, who spoke with followers of the holy man, says he has learnt that the "baba" not only took interest in
make-up but also used to alter his facial features to avoid attention when he ventured out.

The "baba", identified by many Bose aides of unimpeachable integrity, spoke of his escape to the USSR, subsequent participation in the Vietnam war and blamed circumstances for his remaining in hiding in public interest.

He said his emergence could lead to India facing sanctions from world powers, says the book which chronicles the controversy surrounding Bose's reported death and "afterlife".

He was last seen at the Bangkok Airport on 17th August 1945, since then no news of his whereabouts has been confirmed.

The book is based on records declassified by the US, British and Indian authorities and several documents that continue to be kept secret over 65 years after the incident.