Punjab Gramin Bank gets RBI nod to open branches in urban areas

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given green signal to the Punjab Gramin Bank (PGB) to open branches in the urban areas as well. While interacting on the sidelines of a function here, SK Goyal, who has recently taken over as the chairman of the PGB, informed that the licence to open such branch at Abohar has been received and the next branch would be opened at the new district headquarters Fazilka.

Having a network of 180 rural branches covering 13 districts in the state at present, the bank plans to open 15 new branches during the current financial year.

Taking a leap towards making banking services available in the rural areas, the PGB has initiated the process for opening kiosks in 93 villages. These would be equipped with the state-of-the-art voicemail machines that would inform the customer about the amount drawn by them besides displaying the information on the screen.

As many as 375 Farmers Club have so far been sponsored in the villages to bring awareness among the people, 12 new clubs were inaugurated by the chairman during the function held at Arorvansh Bhawan here. Regional manager Yogesh Sharma, district coordinator Dinesh Sharma and APS Brar, state president of the Punjab Gramin Bank Officers Association were also present.

Read More:http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110825/bathinda.htm#7

Bank officials on strike today

Banking services in the rural areas are likely to be paralysed on Friday as over 70,000 employees of 82 Gramin banks are determined to participate in the day-long strike along with the employees of the commercial banks.

APS Brar, president, All Punjab Gramin Bank Officers Association and Central Committee member of the All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association regretted that the Central government had not taken adequate measures to strengthen the banking services in the rural areas.

Read More...http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110805/bathinda.htm#1

HDFC Bank launches credit card ''Infinia'' for ultra rich

 Eyeing the growing ultra rich segment, the country''s second largest private lender HDFC Bank today launched an exclusive credit card ''Infinia'', with no pre-set limit on spends.
"The card is positioned directly against American Express and we believe it is a better product," the bank''s Managing Director Aditya Puri told reporters after launching the card, pointing to the entrenched competitor serving the high-net category.
To start with, the bank will issue 5,000 of the credit cards, which come with a slew of privileges through partnerships to its wealth management customers on the basis of their networth and financial dealings history.
The bank management, however, declined to give details like the networth cut-off which will make a customer eligible.
The card''s annual fee will be Rs 30,000, while the bank will charge an interest of 1.99 per cent per month and levy a 2 per cent foreign currency fee.

"We have the largest network of merchant terminals across the country acquired by ourselves. The unique difference from others serving the segment is that Infinia will get accepted anywhere," the bank''s country head for retail assets and credit cards, Pralay Mondal, said.

A senior bank official said American Express has around 1.5 lakh cardholders in India.
Puri said HDFC Bank will not offer concierge services to its cardholders, something which American Express is famous for. Instead, it will give facilities like an air accident cover of Rs 3 crore, emergency hospitalisation cover of Rs 50 lakh, loyalty rewards and has also tied-up with Taj Hotels and Singapore Airlines, he said.
The ultra rich may comprise 1 per cent of the card holding population but they spend 10 per cent which is a big opportunity, its Executive Vice-President Parag Rao said.
The number of ultra rich in the country stands at 62,000 presently, which is expected to grow to 2,19,000 by 2016, he said, adding that 22 per cent of the wealth for this category of customers goes into consumption.

HDFC Bank has a credit card base of 53 lakh, issues 80,000 cards a month and holds a 26 per cent market share going by spends.

Puri said it has a net non-performing assets ratio of around 8-10 per cent from the credit cards vertical as compared to the industry average of around 15 per cent.

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How one can join the banking sector & how DOEACC courses are helpful for banking sector job ?

There are two broad routes that you can take to enter the banking sector - as a generalist (through the Bank PO exam) or as a specialist with higher study in areas of management, economics, IT, statistics, engineering, etc.

Public sector banks recruit Probationary Officers through PO exams from time to time as per their requirement.

The minimum requirement is a bachelor's degree. No minimum percentage of marks is specified except in some cases (SBI asks for 65 per cent, RBI asks for 60 per cent at the bachelor's level or 55 per cent at the master's level). The age limit is usually 30 years (relaxation for reserved category).

The PO exam tests your reasoning ability, quantitative skills (numerical), English usage and general awareness (essentially, current GK and financial awareness).

Only those who clear the written test (objective and subjective, bi-lingual) are called for GD/Interview.

The SBI test includes a psychometric (aptitude) test and a test of computer literacy.

The DOEACC Society (an autonomous body of Ministry of Information Technology, GoI) conducts an established accreditation and certification programme in IT education.

Under the DOEACC scheme, hundreds of computer training institutes in the non-formal, i.e. private sector have been given accreditation for conducting specified levels of courses subject to meeting certain norms and criteria. Four levels of (AICTE-approved) courses are offered under this scheme:

O-Level, or Foundation Course, certifies your competence as a junior programmer, EDP assistant, web designer or lab demonstrator.

Eligibility: Plus II/ITI Certificate (1-yr) after Class X.

A-Level, or Advanced Diploma Course qualifies you to work as a programmer, web administrator, training faculty, web content developer or trouble-shooter.

Duration: At least 1-year.

Eligibility: Level 'O' / 3-year Engineering Diploma after Class X or XII/Bachelor's degree.

B-Level, or graduate level course, is equivalent to BE/B.Tech, MCA or M.Sc and attests your proficiency to work as a network systems administrator, database administrator, software engineer or senior faculty member. The government (MHRD) recognises the exam for employment in the Central Government wherever MCA is the desired qualification. This makes B-level graduates eligible for government jobs in all departments of the Centre, States, UTs as well as in all PSUs. You can also take the GATE to pursue ME/MTech courses.

Eligibility: Level 'A'/PGDCA/3-year Engineering Diploma/Bachelor's degree.

C-Level, or Master's Level Course, is equivalent to M.Tech (although this not formally notified by MHRD) and certifies you as being fit for the systems specialist or project manager, IT consultant or R & D scientist.

Duration : 18 months

Eligibility: Level 'B'/BTech/BE/MCA/MSc/Bachelor's degree in Maths, Stats, Operations Research/MBA with BSc/BA (Maths/Stats), GATE (Comp).

Details: www.doeacc.edu.in

O, A & B Level is recognised by GoI for employment.