VisVoice

  Customer Service and Customer Empathy/Delight It is quite some time that I have not updated my pass books with the post office, functioning 1 KM away from my residence. I also needed to buy two 'tamil weeklies' - 'thuglak' and 'kumudam', from a nearby petty shop. Completing the above jobs will also ensure that my two wheeler, not operated for more than a week, to get adequately charged! When I was nearing the post office, I realised that I forgot to carry the purse (cash and cards wallet) with me. (I should pay Rs.40 to buy the 'tamil weeklies' mentioned above). I comforted myself that I will withdraw cash from the SB account with the post office, since I carry the pass book. I gave the pass books to the post master requesting for up-dation with an assurance "no hurry, I will pick it up on Monday" (two days after today).  Then I requested for a cash withdrawal slip. The post master asked "how much would you like to take". I said ...

  H ike in deposit rates:  BOB and CB set the trend Brief : Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Canara Bank (CB) hiked their fixed deposit rate to 7% for normal category and 7.5% for senior citizens. While BoB offer this rate for 399 days for non callable deposits , CB extend the benefit for 666 days deposits without any withdrawal restrictions. The rates offered by the two banks is higher by 75 bps at least, as compared to the maximum deposit rates on offer from the other major public sector/ private banks. The move surprised many as BoB and CB are the third and fourth largest, respectively, among PSBs, in terms of total assets. They  also posted impressive finacial results in the first two quarters of the current financial year 2022-23. Trend setter or trigger forced rates?  Are they setting a trend for the other banks to follow? Or is it that there are trigger points in the business portfolio that forced both to offer interest rate that beat the market, by a huge margin....

  A tribute to Suzlon Founder Shri Tulsi R.Tanti Shri Tulsi R. Tanti , the founder chairman of Suzlon Group and the pioneer of windmill and renewable energy in India is no more. I remember an episode vividly. I was chief manager of State Bank of Travancore, Tirupur Branch during 2002-05. Accelerated depreciation and other tax benefits were extended by the central government to units, which set up wind mill projects for captive consumption of power or set-off against their power consumption from the State Electricity Boards. Mr. Tanti, himself a textile mill owner, prior to his avatar as wind turbine manufacturer, made use of the business opportunity and marketed quite a few machines to the textile mills in and around Dindigul District that had their administrative offices in Tirupur, the owners being TIRUPURians. The bankers were new to the renewable energy concept in 2002 and were also worried that the income from the mills should be added for repayment obligations, so as to...

Hike in Repo Rate - Is it a case of Hobson's Choice for MPC this time? Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets in Mumbai from 28 th to 30 th   Sep 2022, to review the present monetary conditions and align, if necessary, RBI's policy rate, so as to achieve the committee's mandate of containing inflation within the band of +/-2 per cent over the targeted rate of 4 per cent. Economic experts have already expressed their opinion that the rate hike is imminent again, with guesstimate differing only on the increase in the number of basis points (bps). Shadow committees of the media and few others, are also likely to meet today and tomorrow to give their predictions. As a layman among bankers, I gathered information on some important issues, which formed the core of MPC discussions in the past in arriving at their unanimous/majority decision on policy rates. I share the same along with my views.  External Factors: 1.      US Federal Reserve Interest Rates (Fed ...

SBT FOUNDATION DAY - 12 TH SEPTEMBER Today is the foundation day for State Bank of Travancore, an associate of State Bank of India, merged with the parent on 31 st March 2017. As Covid threat is no longer looming large, the foundation day of SBT (came into existence 12 th September 1945), is sure to be celebrated today, all over Kerala, with love and fond memories by all ex-SBTians. People ask me, “What is so great to celebrate the foundation day of an institution, which no longer exists". Yes, we have special reasons to celebrate and the main factor is the human connect that binds us, till we breathe our last. I share a few personal instances, which describe the character of the bank and the attitude of the staff’ No mincing of words, please: When I joined the bank in 1985 as a Probationary Officer, I joined State Bank of Travancore Officers’ Association (SBTOA), which was a minority association and a sister wing of SBT Employees’ Union, the major employees’ union in SBT ...

  Is India likely to face a financial crisis Forex Reserves: No doubt high level forex reserves has given the buffer to India to manage any external crisis arising out of maturing external liabilities/ repayment of interest/ principal   towards external debt. The following evidences that: 1. Forex reserves, which was just 7% in 1991 (and   was less than 50% till 2001) of the total external debt, now covers 97.8% of total external debt standing at USD 620.7 billion as on 31.03.2022 2. Current forex reserves is equivalent to cover 49% of total external liabilities (USD 1197.6 billion) and gives a great level of collateral comfort. 3. Forex reserves are also adequate to cover more than 10 months of imports, again a state of mental comfort. 4. High level forex reserves also played   a major role in keeping the currency of the country, with a high current account deficit, within a range. Other comforting factors: However, it should be mentioned that there...

Deposit rate revision needs more transparency Repo rate hiked: Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increased the policy repo rate from 4.0% to  4.90% since May 2022. (increase of 40 bps in May 2022 and 50 bps in June 2022). (In fact, RBI Deputy Governor and MPC member, Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra  says MPC has effectively tightened the  market by130 bps, if one takes into account the increase of 40 bps paid to banks, when they place their surplus funds with RBI under reverse repo (now christened Standing Deposit facility - SDF)). Increased Earnings for banks:  With the revision in repo rates, majority of the public and private sector banks have revised their EBLR (external benchmark linked lending rate) linked to repo rates by 90 bps. MCLR, an internal bench mark rate linked to marginal cost of funds, have also been revised by almost all the banks, though the upward revision varies from 30 to 50 bps among individual banks.  Considering the fact that EBLR loans acco...