New Delhi: Special fixed deposit schemes launched by several public and private banks in India for senior citizens are soon going to end. The schemes were introduced by the banks in May 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic for a brief period of time. 

The special FD schemes offer an additional interest rate over and above the additional 0.5% rate offered to senior citizens. Currently, the State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda are offering these special FD schemes to senior citizens, offering an investment period of five years or more. 

Earlier, the last for applying the scheme was March 31, 2021. But the last date was extended to June 30, 2021, early this year. Any Indian citizen above 60 years of age can invest in this long term scheme to get the maximum returns from fixed deposits.  

SBI’s Wecare Deposit special FD scheme for senior citizens

SBI is offering a WeCare Deposit scheme, which offers an additional 0.80% interest rate to long term FD investments made by senior citizens. Investors will get a 6.20% interest rate on their investment. 

HDFC’s Senior Citizen Care FD scheme for senior citizens

HDFC Bank has named its scheme for senior citizens as Senior Citizen Care FD. Investors get returns at a 6.25% interest rate on their investments.   

ICICI Bank Golden Years FD scheme for senior citizens

ICICI Bank is offering the Golden Years FD scheme with a higher interest rate to investments made by senior citizens. FD investment in this scheme fetches a 6.30% interest rate annually. 

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New Delhi: India’s largest private bank HDFC Bank is advising its customers to keep their mount shut, as part of its ongoing campaign around the rising bank frauds in the country. 

With the ‘#MoohBandRakho’ campaign, the bank is advising the customers on how they can avoid bank frauds. The bank warned that cyber thugs can rob the deposits by fooling customers by calling from a bank’s fake helpline number. 

In its official tweet, HDFC said, “Received a message for an FD/RD transaction you didn’t make? Scamsters are using fake HDFC Bank helpline numbers & asking people to download the screen-sharing app to access their banking information. So practice #MoohBandRakho when the scamsters call.” 

Scamsters nowadays are calling customer’s number and claim that they are calling from the bank to solve a problem. They request the customers to download a screen sharing application to give them access to track their FD/RD status. 

If you’re an HDFC Bank customer and get a similar call then you know that all you need to do is keep your mouth shut to stay safe from such frauds. Please note that you should never download a third-party app at the request of any fraud call. 

In the past year, bank frauds in India have surged at a record pace. Recently, the State Bank of India (SBI) started sending alerts to its customers on how they can take utmost precaution against bank frauds. 

“We advise our customers to be alert of fraudsters and not to share any sensitive details online or download any app from an unknown source,” SBI tweeted. 

Moreover, you would like to take note that in case, if you fall for fraud then the bank isn’t responsible for any damages.  In March 2021, the Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission in Gujarat’s Amreli district refused to accept compensation claims of the victim on the grounds that he was duped because of his own negligence

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India`s central bank is informally urging lenders to cut ties with cryptocurrency exchanges and traders as the highly speculative market booms, despite a Supreme Court ruling that banks can work with the industry, three sources told Reuters

The guidance comes as India is crafting a law to ban cryptocurrencies and penalize anyone dealing in them, which would be among the most sweeping crackdowns on the new investing fad in the world. But with the COVID-19 crisis engulfing the country, no one is sure when such a bill may be passed, adding to investors` confusion.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2018 had forbidden banks from dealing in all transactions related to bitcoin and other such assets. That diktat was challenged by the crypto exchanges and in March 2020, India`s top court overturned the RBI ban and allowed lenders to extend banking facilities to them.

With investors continuing to rush into the hot new asset class, however, regulators appear to be gearing up for another try.

Thousands of new users are piling into the system every day at a time when the prices of major digital currencies have been on the rise. There are over 10 million crypto investors in India with total holdings of over 100 billion rupees ($1.36 billion), according to industry estimates. No official data is available.

“The regulator has been unofficially asking us that why are we dealing in such business when it is ultra speculative. A lot of money flows overseas via this trade which the RBI is not comfortable with as it may lead to money laundering,” said a senior executive at one of the banks which was contacted.

RBI did not respond to a request for comment.

Private lender ICICI Bank has already asked payment service companies that it works with to stop all crypto-related payment transactions, three sources said, while other lenders are also following suit.

ICICI Bank did not respond to an email seeking comment.

None of the sources wanted to be identified as the discussions with RBI were private and no official order has been issued yet.

“Even though the discussions are informal that is enough. No one wants to go against the regulator,” said another source.

The central bank has often voiced its apprehension about digital currencies. Earlier this year, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that they have “major concerns (around crypto) from the financial stability angle.”.

THE CRYPTO CONUNDRUM

With Indian banks increasingly wary of dealing with them, crypto exchanges are scrambling to find new business partners.

Axis Bank, Citibank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and others are limiting their exposure to the cryptocurrency market, sources said.

“Axis Bank has taken a fairly negative stance against crypto. They are citing internal policy and risk measures and have stopped transactions with crypto exchanges,” said the CEO of a global crypto exchange with presence in India.

IndusInd Bank is also in the process of stopping all crypto-related transasaction, said two sources.

Axis, Kotak and IndusInd did not reply to an email seeking comment while Citibank declined to comment.

 

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The pandemic has hit significantly hit retail payments across the country, as the number of borrowers failing to pay their monthly EMIs has surged in April 2021. According to the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) data, 34.1% of auto-debit transactions facilitated via the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) failed in April 2021.

The primary reason for the alarming failure rate is due to insufficient funds. In March 2021, the failure rate stood at 32.8%. Interestingly, repayments were improving until March 2021, just before the second Covid-19 stormed into India. It is important to note that this data is only for inter-bank mandates, which means a transaction between a bank and a non-bank lender.  

Banks are also witnessing higher cheque bounces. The overall scenario indicates that borrowers are not willing to repay their loans. Moreover, lending experts are pointing that the figures for May could prove to far worse than April, as the country has practically moved into a national lockdown. 

The second Covid-19 wave is proving to be deadlier than the first one, with the number of daily cases surging to record highs. The death toll in India has also created new records, catapulting citizens into a situation of grief and fear. 

As a result, banks are showing more caution towards the growing number of defaulters, most of whom are self-employed people or those working in informal segments. Many citizens who have lost their jobs are also failing to pay their dues. 

In a call with financial analysts, Jimmy Tata, chief credit officer at HDFC Bank Ltd, said on 17 April, “We are halfway through April, so I cannot really comment on the demand resolution for April, but the cheque bounces in April have taken a bit of an upward blip.”