International : Alibaba Singles Day sales touch $9.3 bn

  

PTI Shanghai 12 Nov 2014

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said consumers spent a record $9.3 billion during its 24-hour shopping promotion Singles Day, cementing its position as the world’s biggest online retail event.

Shoppers had yesterday spent $3.5 billion or 60 per cent more than the $5.8 billion sales recorded for the same day last year, the group had said in a statement today.

It also dwarfed the major shopping days in the US in terms of transaction value, toppling the combined online sales of $5.3 billion recorded on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday through to Cyber Monday last year, according to data compiled by Internet analytics firm comScore.

Alibaba has been pushing November 11 as Singles Day — so named for the number of ones in the date —since 2009 as it looks to tap an expanding army of Internet shoppers in China, which has the world’s biggest online population.

The day was originally marketed as an “anti-Valentine’s Day” in China, featuring hefty discounts to lure the country’s singletons and price-sensitive buyers.

It was expanded globally this year to include more than 27,000 overseas brands and merchants as well as customers from more than 217 countries and regions.

Deals settled on Alibaba’s China and international retail market places reached $9.3 billion for the day, the group said in the release.

The number of transactions made per minute peaked at 2.85 million, it added.

“We are very happy with the results of this year’s 11.11 shopping festival,” said Alibaba chief executive Jonathan Lu.

“We are particularly encouraged by the growing trend of consumers embracing mobile shopping on a global stage.”

Approximately $4 billion of deals or 42.6 per cent of total were made via mobile devices, according to the company.

Some 278.5 million packages were expected to be shipped after the event, it said.

The strong set of figures came against the backdrop of a growing online retail market in China and increasing spending power of consumers, analysts said.

Nonetheless Alibaba shares, which have risen strongly since its record-breaking $25-billion initial public offering two months ago, dropped 3.87 per cent to $114.54 in New York yesterday.

International :Alibaba says `Singles Day’ shoppers spend $2 bn in first hour

The logo of the Alibaba Group is seen inside the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province November 11, 2014. The "11.11 Shopping Festival", which Alibaba says is the world's biggest 24-hour online sale, began in 2009 when just 27 merchants on the company's Tmall.com site offered deep discounts to boost sales during an otherwise slack period.


PTI Shanghai Nov 11,2014

Alibaba said a record $2 billion of goods were sold in the first hour of its Singles Day shopping bonanza in China today, maintaining the day’s dominance as the world’s biggest retail event as it went global for the first time.

The e-commerce giant said that amount was more than a third of the $5.8 billion full-day sales recorded on the same day last year and analysts say this year will blow that out of the water.

Alibaba has been pushing November 11 as Singles Day — so named for the number of ones in the date — since 2009 as it looks to tap an expanding army of Internet shoppers in China, which has the world’s biggest online population.

Singles Day already surpassed major shopping festivals in the U.S. in terms of transaction value last year, toppling the combined online sales of $3.7 billion recorded on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to an estimate by Internet analytics firm comScore.

The day was originally marketed as an “anti-Valentine’s Day” in China featuring hefty discounts to lure the country’s singletons and price-sensitive buyers.

It has been expanded globally this year to include overseas merchants and customers.

Within the first hour and 12 seconds, more than $2 billion) of deals were settled on both domestic and international retail marketplaces, Alibaba said in a statement, adding that 45.7 per cent of the transactions were made via mobile devices.

Headquartered in the eastern city of Hangzhou, Alibaba debuted its shares in New York two months ago with a record-breaking $25 billion initial public offering.

The giant operates China’s most popular online shopping platform, Taobao, which is estimated to hold more than 90 per cent of the online market for consumer-to-consumer transactions.

The company does not sell products directly but acts as an electronic middleman. It also owns other marketplaces, including business-to-consumer platform Tmall.

More than 27,000 brands and merchants are participating in this year’s Singles Day, while consumers in more than 220 countries and regions will be able to join the 24-hour spending spree, the statement said.

Full banking coverage :Kerala declares full banking coverage

BL : Thiruvananthapuram : 11 Nov 2014

12.8 lakh new accounts opened across the State

Kerala has become the first major State to declare banking coverage to all households under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna.

State Finance Minister KM Mani made the official declaration and released a Certificate of Declaration at a function held here at the Durbar Hall in the State Secretariat on Tuesday.

Financial inclusion

The Minister appreciated the efforts of the State-Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) in achieving the milestone. The Yojna is a comprehensive financial inclusion programme launched by the Prime Minister on Independence Day.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy launched it locally on August 28. It was simultaneously rolled out in all 14 districts.

An official of the SLBC said all banks in the State together have opened over 12.8 lakh accounts to achieve full coverage in rural and urban areas.

Rupay cards

They have issued 5.25 lakh RuPay debit cards till date. A toll free number 1800-425-11222 has been set up for providing information on the scheme and redressal of grievances.

The official said that a survey was conducted with the help of college students to identify beneficiary families and account-opening camps were conducted at various locations.

The spokesman listed the next tasks ahead for the banks and the State Government as:

(i) Opening of a second account for the woman of the household (ii) issue of Rupay debit card to all account holders (iii) Aadhaar enrolment of remaining families, and (iv) Aadhaar seeding in all accounts.

Milestones achieved

The State had already achieved most of the six milestones listed under the Yojna, of which the first related to provision of universal banking facilities.

The State now has more than 6,000 bank branches. Every village has a banking channel. This apart, 848 Akshaya e-kiosks in the State are serving as banking kiosks. Their number will go up to 1,222 by the next month.

The State has also achieved the milestone of opening financial literacy centres. It is the first to establish such centres in all 152 blocks, achieving another milestone ahead of schedule.

Among those who attended Tuesday’s programme were PS Rawat, Executive Director, Canara Bank and Chairman, SLBC; KM Abraham, Mission Director for the Yojna in Kerala; U Rameshkumar, Convenor, SLBC and General Manager, Canara Bank; and Ramesh Tenkil, Chief General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kerala region.

International Banking : :StanChart to axe 80-100 branches under cost-cutting plan

Reuters : London :11 Nov 2014

Standard Chartered plans to cut 80-100 retail branches in 2015 as part of its plan to save $400 million a year to improve profitability, according to slides the Asia-focused bank released on an investor roadshow.

Standard Chartered said in the slides its retail bank's potential returns were being held back by high costs. It had 1,248 branches at the end of June.

The bank is holding a three-day roadshow for analysts and investors to try to convince them it can revive the bank's fortunes after three profit warnings this year and several other problems.

Education Loan :It pays to get insurance cover for education loan

 BL :THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOVEMBER 11: 2014

Else, the guarantor will have to bear the brunt, as a recent incident in Coimbatore reveals

 

Parents would do well to do a ‘forensic audit’ of all paperwork while going in for educational loan for their children, including the assumed insurance cover generated. This cannot be truer in the case of financially weaker families, says S Dheenadhayalan, an RTI activist, while recounting an incident in Coimbatore.

Banks reckon that while disbursing the loan they have insured the student, a matter of discretion, to mitigate risks from his/her accidental demise. The premium is part of cost overheads and debited to the loan account.

Should the bank fail to do this inadvertently or otherwise, parents as guarantors would be asked to repay the loan lumpsum.

Dheenadhayalan cited the case of M Mohanraj, son of Marimuthu, a small-time salesman, and resident of town Omalur in Salem district of Tamil Nadu.

Mohanraj had taken a loan from Indian Overseas Bank in November 2011 to pursue an MBA course. He died of brain tumour in May 2013 after receiving fees for two semesters (₹86,776) as loan.

Claim invalid

Marimuthu wrote to the bank conveying the development, annexing a death certificate and medical records. He also sought a waiver of the loan.

But he had failed to get an acknowledgment for the same, a costly miss. The bank is now demanding repayment of the loan disbursed plus accrued interest of ₹1,02,412 (as on October 20, 2014). Marimuthu contacted higher authorities of the bank for remedy but he was told that it had no information about the death or any record or evidence of such information. He was earlier told by branch officials that the claim for waiver was invalid since the insurance policy was generated after his son’s death (on June 18, 2013, as per the loan statement generated by the bank).

Prevalence of an insurance policy would have exonerated him from repayment, Dheenadayalan said. In the absence of one, the bank is pressing for recovery of 75 per cent of the dues in the latest offer of a one-time settlement. The legal opinion that he received tended to favour the bank since the insurance policy is purely an additional precaution/security to the loan disbursal contract.

In the eyes of the law, banks are well within their discretionary limits to trigger an insurance policy in the name of a student drawing the loan.

Message for the public: ensure prevalence of relevant insurance policy as part of an education loan; and check appropriateness of entries in the insurance policy since banks tend to fill them casually with alphanumeric entries.

RBI :To get future ready, RBI re-drafts core purpose

BL : Naga Sridhar :HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 11:2014

To retain autonomy, independence of views

  

 

In line with the changing demands of the economy, the Reserve Bank of India is re-thinking its role and function.

Contemplating a change in its core purpose, for the first time in its over 79 years of existence, the RBI is seeing a shift in its role from the bland “monetary stability” (in its current Preamble) to fostering “monetary and financial stability conducive to sustainable economic growth and to ensure the development of an efficient and inclusive financial system.”

Ready for approval

The draft of the new document re-stating the core purpose, values and vision — a copy of which is withBusinessLine — has been prepared by the senior management committee and will be sent to the central bank’s board for formal approval soon.

The purpose of the new vision, according to the RBI, is to delineate its strategic objectives and provide the framework and backdrop within and against which its policies will be formulated and the direction the bank would take.

The thinking at the RBI has been on these lines for quite some time now. During the central bank’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in April 2010, the then Governor D Subbarao had said: “Even at the risk of being clichéd, let me say that at the Reserve Bank, we need to ‘think global and act local’. The idea is not to fight globalisation but to manage it to the country’s best advantage.’’

Thus, the draft document focuses on issues of current importance such as autonomy in functioning, fostering confidence in the internal and external value of the rupee, and achieving inclusive growth. The RBI appears to be significantly enlarging its scope even while sending a strong message of retaining its “independence of views”, and “valuing’’ independent judgment in formulating its policies.

This goes well beyond what the Preamble says now “...to regulate the issue of bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage.’’

Perfect timing

The vision document comes at a time the Government and the RBI have been discussing the central bank’s role. During a recent visit to the Indian School of Business here, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had said the central bank was discussing various issues with the Government, including fixing of inflation targets and implementation of the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislature Reforms Committee on changes in the RBI’s role.

Bank strike : PSU bank staff go on strike; pvt banks remain open

PTI 12 Nov 2014

Employee unions of public sector banks went on a nationwide strike today to press for wage revision, affecting banking services like cheque clearance and withdrawal from branches across the country.

However, branches of private sector banks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank remained open. At the same time, most of the ATMs of all banks were functioning normally, as per initial reports.

“Strike is complete and total. This strike has been forced upon us as bank management did not yield to our scaled down demands,” United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Convener M V Murali told PTI.

Banks, including the country’s largest one SBI, have already informed customers about the inconvenience they are likely to face.

“UFBU has given a notice to IBA calling for nationwide bank strike on November 12 and All-India State Bank Officers’ Federation and All-India State Bank of India Staff Federation, being a part of UFBU, will also participate in the said strike,” SBI had said in a statement.

“Since the said call is given at all-India level covering all banks, the bank will not be impacted separately,” the statement said.

The staff of public sector banks had gone on a nationwide strike for two days beginning February 10 after discussions with the IBA failed. The wage revision of public sector bank employees has been due since November 2012.

The UFBU is an umbrella organisation of nine bank employees and officer unions.

There are 27 public sector banks in the country with a combined employee strength of about 8 lakh. There are about 50,000 branches of these banks across the country.