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Showing posts with label bank closure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank closure. Show all posts

Friday, 22 December 2017

18:05

Public Sector Bank :No Question Of Closure

Public Sector Bank :No Question Of Closure

No question of closing down any public sector bank: Govt, RBI

Do not believe rumour mongers. Recap, Reforms roadmap for PSBs firmly on track: Financial Services Secy
NEW DELHI, DEC 22:  
Dismissing rumours, both the Government and the Reserve Bank today said there was no question of closure of any public sector bank. The decision of the Reserve Bank to initiate a ‘prompt corrective action’ (PCA) against large state-owned lender Bank of India led to rumours that the government may close down some banks.
The RBI in a statement said that it has come across some “misinformed communication” circulating in some section of media, including social media, about closure of some public sector banks in the wake of them being placed under the PCA.
The government too dismissed such rumours saying that on the contrary it is planning to strengthen the state-owned banks. “No question of closing down any bank. Government is strengthening PSBs by 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan. Do not believe rumour mongers. Recap, Reforms roadmap for PSBs firmly on track,” Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar said in a tweet.
The RBI, on its part, clarified that “the PCA framework is not intended to constrain normal operations of the banks for the general public''. The central bank had issued a similar clarification in June also.
It emphasised that the PCA framework has been in operation since December 2002 and the guidelines issued on April 13, 2017 are only a revised version of the earlier framework. Besides Bank of India, the RBI has also initiated similar action against other public sector banks, including IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank.
The RBI said that under its supervisory framework, it uses various measures/tools to maintain sound financial health of banks. “PCA framework is one of such supervisory tools, which involves monitoring of certain performance indicators of the banks as an early warning exercise and is initiated once such thresholds as relating to capital, asset quality etc. are breached,” it said.
The objective is to facilitate the banks to take corrective measures, including those prescribed by the RBI, in a timely manner, in order to restore their financial health. The framework also provides an opportunity to the RBI to pay focused attention on such banks by engaging with the management more closely in those areas.
“The PCA framework is, thus, intended to encourage banks to eschew certain riskier activities and focus on conserving capital so that their balance sheets can become stronger,” the RBI added.

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Saturday, 21 May 2016

08:11

HSBC India is closing 24 branches across the country due to the rise in digital banking.

HSBC India is closing 24 branches across the country due to the rise in digital banking.

Following a “strategic review” of its retail banking and wealth management business in India, it says it will move from 50 branches across 29 cities to 26 branches across 14 cities.

HSBC India says: “This change reflects changes in customer behaviour, who are increasingly using digital channels for their banking.”

Stuart P Milne, group general manager and CEO, HSBC India, adds: “Customer expectations are changing rapidly and we need to adapt accordingly.”

HSBC India says it does not expect any “additional branch consolidation”; and the cuts to the branch network will take place over the coming months in a “phased manner”.

According to the bank, the branches being closed account for less than 10% of HSBC’s retail customer base in India.

The bank also says the closures will affect 1% of its total number of employees in the country, which is around 33,000. HSBC says redeployment opportunities will be offered to those affected.

List of impacted branches (alphabetical order):

Chennai (Adyar Branch); Delhi (Punjabi Bagh and Basant Lok Branch); Guwahati Branch; Indore Branch; Jodhpur Branch; Kolkata (Shakespeare Sarani, Howrah, Ultadanga, New Alipore and Salt Lake Branch); Lucknow Branch; Ludhiana Branch; Mumbai (Thane Branch); Mysore Branch; Nagpur Branch; Nasik Branch; Patna Branch; Pune (Deccan Branch); Raipur Branch; Surat Branch; Trivandrum Branch; Vadodara Branch; Vishakhapatnam Branch.

Cuts and closures

Recently, HSBC announced it will cut 850 information technology jobs in the UK, the first stage of its restructuring plan that will see 8,000 British jobs terminated by the end of 2017.

HSBC set out its three-year restructuring plan last year with clear ambitions in mind – reduce its extended global network, shut down underperforming businesses, and improve earnings.

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Monday, 16 May 2016

08:13

G4S plans to move into operating bank branches

G4S plans to move into operating bank branches

The FTSE 250 listed company said it was now in discussion with some of the biggest banks in the UK, Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium and Ireland over the launch of high street branches.
The move is part of G4S’s attempts to rebuild its business, which employs 620,000 staff in 110 countries. In Britain, G4S’s reputation has been tarnished by a failure to provide enough security guards at the London 2012 Olympics and for overcharging for the electronic tagging of offenders.
The idea is to provide cash handling and depositing services for customers of different lenders from the same outlet.
“We are looking to step into the space that banks want to vacate,” said Graham Levinsohn, European chief executive of G4S. “It is clear from the number of closures that banks don’t want tellers to be counting cash inside branches. It is simply uneconomic for banks to keep staffing bricks and mortar buildings but it makes sense for us.”
Banks in the UK and across Europe are retreating from the high street as they offer more services online and on mobile, triggering concerns about the impact on local communities and retailers. The pace of closures has accelerated in recent months despite political sensitivities.
The big six retail banks — Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Santander, Barclays and the Co-operative — have closed 600 branches over the past year, according to research by the BBC. The lenders say branch footfall is dropping as customers increasingly turn to mobile banking.
In total, about 3,000 branches have shut over the past decade, according to the Campaign for Community Banking Services, leaving about 8,000.
It is clear from the number of closures that banks don’t want tellers to be counting cash inside branches.
“There’s lots of pressure on banks to keep the last bank in any town open,” said Mr Levinsohn. “But banks are keen to close them because they are much more focused on the bottom line than they used to be. It’s a very competitive market.”
The UK’s banking body is aware of various mobile bank branch options being explored, according to people familiar with the situation. However, in the past banks have been cool on the idea of shared branches, as they still rely on bricks and mortar premises for marketing and sales.
G4S already provides rural banking services, called banks in a box, to remote areas in South Africa. Mr Levinsohn said he would rather provide mobile units in Europe, but that this would be negotiated with the banks involved and that high street outlets were also being considered. In the Netherlands, G4S machines and staff are already used in some bank branches.
Despite forecasts that card and contactless payments would lead to the death of cash, the decline is proving slower than expected, according to analysts.
The UK is a European leader in the use of card and online payments but 52 per cent of transactions are still in cash, according to Bank of England data published last year.
G4S believes its cash solutions business, which accounts for 14 per cent of group revenues, or 25 per cent of profits, is poised for growth.
The company has struck deals with Walmart, Center Parcs, and Crowne Plaza hotels for its new Cash 360 services — which use machines to count cash, reducing the risk of theft by cashiers.
G4S fought off bids from private equity last year for its cash solutions business, and rumours of interest in the division have resurfaced.
Banks started to outsource their cash management operations to third parties in the late 1990s when the rollout of ATMs started to expand. Companies such as G4S, Securicor and Prosecur took over the responsibility of transporting cash to ATMs, retrieving cheques and cash deposits left by customers and fixing any problems with the machines.

Source:www.ft.com 

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