Some of the top executives, who were stranded due to lockdown, have begun taking up their new roles and redrawing strategies at head offices, people familiar with the matter said. However, the realignment and rationalisation of branches are yet to begin, even as field general manager offices started functioning to push credit growth in line with the government objectives.
Loans to the economically weaker sections in April was nearly 40% higher than loans to big corporates, indicating low credit demand for investments while also pointing to the need for borrowings to keep the poor going at a time when economic activities came to a virtual standstill.
The impact of COVID-19 is different in different territories, based on its severances and category of zone such as Red, Orange or Green, Bank of India said in a disclosure to bourses.
For senior citizen, it is offering a higher interest rate of 75 bps over applicable card rate for all maturities on domestic deposits up to Rs 2 crore.
Transaction volumes recorded on channels such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Immediate Payment System (IMPS), Bharat Bill Payment System and National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) inched towards pre-covid levels signifying a slow revival in commercial activities and early signs of consumer appetite to spend.
Retail credit declined by 2.5 per cent, the lowest level since 2008, from when the data series started, it said, expecting that the decline will continue as Maharashtra has extended the lockdown till June 30.
The Banks Board Bureau has also recommended names of M V Rao and P P Sengupta for the post of managing director of Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank, respectively. While Rao will replace Central Bank of India MD Pallav Mohapatra who will retire in February next year.
The number of PSBs has come down after amalgamation of several lenders, and their ability to lend has increased manifold, Union Bank of India MD and CEO Rajkiran Rai G said.
State Bank of India (SBI) is all set to activate its micro market vertical from June to raise its stake with the bottom-of-the-pyramid borrowers, and it has asked SBI Life Insurance chief executive Sanjeev Nautiyal to head the initiative.
The zero-contact method completely does away with paper work or biometric verification, thereby removing physical interaction between the bank and customer from the know your customer (KYC) process, IDFC First Bank said in a release.
Despite the government announcement of Covid-related delinquencies not being treated as a default, it would be impractical to provide a blanket protection against recovery action to all borrowers, bankers have said.
A pent-up demand for vehicles and social distancing needs, coupled with the introduction of digital inputs to manage customer journey by banks will lead to a faster uptick in auto sales, which were sagging before the lockdown and came to a standstill in the last two months, the bank's country head for retail lending Arvind Kapil said.
Small business owners, people who have not been paid by their employers and the ones who are not able to earn their daily wages in the face of the lockdown are pledging family gold to raise funds. The top-7 gold financing companies are currently holding a record loan book worth Rs 85,000 crore, as per Care Ratings data. Banks are estimated to be holding gold loans worth Rs 2.35 lakh crore.
