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Suryoday SFB Launched ‘Health and Wellness Savings Account
Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB) has introduced a "Health and Wellness Savings Account" that offers a 6.25 percent interest rate, free insurance, and healthcare benefits, unlimited free ATM transactions, and more.
The individual needs to maintain the Average Monthly Balance (AMB) of Rs. 3 Lakhs and to be eligible as per the health declaration form.
Eligible Age - 18 years to 65 years (Below 18 years or above 65 years of age are not eligible for this account).
Special benefits
The objective of the Health and Wellness Savings Account is to secure both your health and your wealth.
The following are the three key health and wellness features and perks on this account according to the bank:
- Complimentary Top-up Health Insurance of Rs 25 Lakhs with 5 Lakhs deductible for Self and Family (2 Adults ie Self and Spouse +2 Children) for 1st year
- Complimentary Annual Healthcare Package for Family of 4 for 1st Year Unlimited phone/video consultation Specialist Consultation at network hospitals (Twice a year) Free Health Check-up (Twice a year)
- Complimentary On Call Emergency Ambulance Medical Care Services upto a distance of 20 Kms till 31 Mar 2022
A higher interest rate of upto 6.25% p.a on your Savings Bank account.
The account also includes – Rs 1.50 lakh daily ATM withdrawal limit, Rs 3 lakh daily POS (point of sale) usage limit, and ‘Platinum’ RuPay Secure Chip Debit Card variant.
PM Modi launches voucher-based digital payments solution e-RUPI
The platform, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in collaboration with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority, claims to be a person and purpose-specific digital payment solution.
e-RUPI voucher will play a role in boosting digital transactions and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in the country. This will help everyone in targetted, transparent and leakage-free delivery
Process Under e-RUPI
When the government/organization intends to provide financial support, they could share the e-RUPI e-Voucher/coupon in the form of SMS-string or QR Code (instead of Money) to the beneficiaries’ mobile for a specific purpose (health, education, subsidies, etc).
The beneficiaries need to show the e-voucher (in mobile) to the welfare service provider (i.e. the merchants that accept e-RUPI) to redeem the voucher and complete the transaction.
- As the vouchers will be created for specific purposes they cannot be transferred or cashed out and there is no need to print out the voucher.
- The vouchers will be redeemed by that beneficiary individual only
Mini Ipe took charge as managing director of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Ipe is a post-graduate in commerce and joined LIC in 1986 as a direct recruit officer. She has a diverse experience in LIC having worked in various capacities.
LIC is India’s 2nd-largest financial services institution with a Rs 31 lakh crore balance sheet, next to the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), with assets of Rs 39.51 lakh crore.
The company in June extended chairman MR Kumar's term till March 13, 2022. The appointments committee of the cabinet approved the proposal of the department of financial services to extend the term of Kumar.
All these announcements are crucial as the state-owned insurer is eying an IPO (initial public offering) in the current fiscal year.
LIC earned Rs 57,958 crore first-year premium and Rs 1,20,317 crore single premium in FY20. Renewal premiums were Rs 2,01,113 crore. These figures (including investment income) gave it net revenues of Rs 6.15 lakh crore. RIL which is most profitable company of India reported Rs 3.65 lakh crore revenues in FY20. This shows the enormity of the task before LIC's valuers.
RBI Authorizes IndusInd Bank to act as an ‘Agency Bank’
The IndusInd Bank has been empaneled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as an ‘Agency Bank’. As an Agency Bank, IndusInd becomes eligible to carry out transactions related to all kinds of government-led businesses
IndusInd Bank now joins few other private banks of the country listed as Agency Bank of RBI, to carry out general banking business on behalf of the central and state government, apart from offering its customers the convenience of undertaking routine financial transactions through its banking platform.
As an empaneled ‘Agency Bank’, IndusInd Bank can perform certain transactions such as:
- Handle transactions pertaining to revenue receipts under CBDT, CCBIC and GST on behalf of the state/central government.
- Make transactions for pension payments on behalf of state/central government work related to Small Savings Schemes (SSS).
- Collection of stamp duty charges, and collection of stamp duty from citizens for the franking of documents.
- Undertake the collection of state taxes such as professional tax, VAT, state excise etc. on behalf of various state governments, among other things.
IMF approves $650B Special Drawing Rights allocation
The International Monetary Fund has approved an allocation of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights, the largest such disbursement in the history of the institution and one designed to help countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the move by the board of governors Monday is a “shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis.”
The SDRs are allocated based on member countries’ share quotas. This means much of the reserve assets will be going to wealthier nations.
IMF said about $275 billion will reach the broad category of “emerging markets and developing countries.” But the lowest-income nations will receive the least, with African countries, for example, expected to get just 6.4% of the total allocation.
SDRs are provided without the conditionality usually attached to IMF lending and do not have to be repaid, leaving governments free to use them as they wish without taking compensatory measures to shore up public finances.
Recently, the Finance Minister of India opposed a general allocation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it might not be effective in easing Covid-19 driven financial pressures.
- The Finance Minister was concerned that such a major liquidity injection could produce potentially costly side-effects if countries used the funds for irrelevant purposes.
What is SDR?
The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves
The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.
Quota (the amount contributed to the IMF) of a country is denominated (expressed) in SDRs.
- Members’ voting power is related directly to their quotas.
A basket of currencies determines the value of the SDR
The SDR was initially defined as equivalent to 0.888671 grams of fine gold—which, at the time, was also equivalent to one U.S. dollar. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the SDR was redefined as a basket of currencies.
Currencies included in the SDR basket have to meet two criteria: the export criterion and the freely usable criterion.
The SDR basket is reviewed every five years, or earlier if warranted, to ensure that the basket reflects the relative importance of currencies in the world’s trading and financial systems.
During the last review concluded in November 2015, the Board decided that the Chinese renminbi (RMB) met the criteria for SDR basket inclusion. Following this decision, the Chinese RMB joined the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound sterling in the SDR basket, effective October 1, 2016
The weightage of currencies are given below.
- British Pound – 8.09%
- Japanese Yen – 8.33%
- Chinese Yuan – Around 11%
- Euro – Around 31%
- US Dollar – Around 41.73%
The SDR exchange rate of reference is 0.702283 SDR per USD as of July 1, 2021.
MUDRA Loan target reduced to Rs. 3 Lakh Crore in FY 2021-22
The government has set the loans disbursement target under the PM Mudra Yojana (PMMY) at Rs 3 trillion for 2021-22 (FY22). This target is lower than the previous year. For FY21, the target was set at Rs 3.21 trillion.
- Out of Rs 3.21 trillion loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in financial year 2021, Rs 3.12 trillion were disbursed.
- In the financial year 2019-2021, this figure was even higher with total loans of 3.37 trillion. Out of this amount, Rs 3.29 trillion were disbursed.
About the PMMY:
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme to extend collateral-free loans by Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) to Small/Micro business enterprises and individuals in the non-agricultural sector to enable them to set up or expand their business activities and to generate self-employment.
It was launched by the government in 2015 for providing loans up to Rs. 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro-enterprises.
MUDRA has created three products i.e. 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and ‘Tarun’ as per the stage of growth and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit.
- Shishu: Covering loans up to Rs. 50,000.
- Kishore: Covering loans above Rs. 50,000 and up to Rs. 5 lakh.
- Tarun: Covering loans above Rs. 5 lakh and up to Rs. 10 lakh.
Loans have been given to disadvantaged sections of society such as women entrepreneurs, SC/ST/OBC borrowers, Minority community borrowers, etc. The focus has also been on new entrepreneurs.
- Under the new SIM Binding feature, the YONO and YONO Lite apps will work only on those devices which have SIM of mobile numbers registered with the Bank.
- The users will need to complete the one-time registration process on these apps, where the bank will verify the SIM of the registered mobile number with the lender.
HDFC Bank announced the launch of an overdraft facility for small retailers in partnership with CSC SPV known as ‘Dukandar Overdraft Scheme’.
The scheme by HDFC Bank is aimed at helping shopkeepers and merchants ease their cash crunch.
According to the bank, retailers operating for a minimum of three years are eligible for the scheme by providing six months bank statement from any bank.
- HDFC Bank will approve an overdraft limit from a minimum of Rs 50,000 to a maximum of Rs 10 lakhs based on the statements.
Importantly, HDFC Bank won’t seek collateral security, business financials, and income tax returns from retailers who apply for the scheme.
- The upper limit for shops operational for less than 6 years is Rs 7.5 lakhs and Rs 10 lakh for establishments which have been in business for more than 6 years,” HDFC Bank said in a statement
