IndusInd Bank launches ‘Green Fixed Deposits': Check features and benefits here

Mumbai: IndusInd Bank has announced the launch of ‘Green Fixed Deposits’ where the deposit proceeds will be used to finance projects and firms supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IndusInd Bank is amongst few banks globally, to bring forth this proposition, thereby integrating SDG into a regular fixed deposit product.

These deposits shall be offered to both retail and corporate customers. The Bank, will use the proceeds from these deposits to finance a wide array of sectors falling under the SDG category including, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green transport, sustainable food, agriculture, forestry, waste management, and greenhouse gas reduction.

Speaking about the launch, Ms. Roopa Satish, Head - CSR and Sustainable Banking, IndusInd Bank said, “At IndusInd Bank, sustainable banking has always been a critical area of focus. We are the only bank in India to secure ‘band A’ in the Carbon Disclosure Project and we have maintained our leadership capability over the last 5 years. We are now delighted to bring forth Green deposits that provide our customers with an opportunity to contribute towards building a cleaner and better society. We encourage both corporate and retail depositors to avail this opportunity. The interest on Green deposit remains attractive with an additional benefit of 50 basis point for senior citizens. In all ways, it is similar to a regular bank deposit but in addition, depositors will be issued a ‘Green’ certificate as well as an ‘Assurance’ certificate confirming the end use of deposit proceeds at the end of the financial year."

Features & Benefits of Green Fixed Deposit

• Higher rate of interest up to 6% per annum
• Additional returns for the senior citizens of 0.50% per annum
• Deposits backed by insurance for up to ₹5 lakh
• Low pre-mature withdrawal charges of only 1%
• Assurance certification from a reputed external consulting firm

The launch of ‘Green’ deposits’ is part of IndusInd Bank's larger commitment of creating value for all its stakeholders, and remaining focused at driving sustainable economic growth of the country.

Source: Livemint

IndusInd Bank, NPCI partner to simplify cross-border remittances through UPI

Indians can now get remittance money from their foreign sources in a much easier way as IndusInd Bank has tied up with NPCI to facilitate cross-border money transfer by using UPI IDs of the beneficiaries. This will obviate the need to remember one's bank account details to send money.

IndusInd Bank has joined hands with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to offer real-time cross-border remittances to India using UPI IDs, for its money transfer operator (MTO) partners, the bank said in a statement on Monday.

With this initiative, IndusInd Bank has become the first Indian bank to go live on UPI for cross-border payments or NRI remittances.

Under this arrangement, the MTOs will use the IndusInd Bank channel to connect with the NPCI's UPI payment systems for validation and cross-border payment settlement into beneficiary accounts.

To begin with, IndusInd Bank has started with Thailand for foreign inward remittance (FIR) through UPI by using DeeMoney.

DeeMoney is a Thailand-based financial solutions provider offering money transfers and foreign currency exchange services.

By adding the UPI IDs of the beneficiaries' in India on the DeeMoney website, one can easily transfer funds.

IndusInd Bank said it also plans to add more partners in various other countries for cross-border payments via UPI in the near future.

"It's a significant step towards simplifying remittances as a functionality, as individuals residing overseas will now be able to conveniently transfer money to a beneficiary by simply adding their UPI IDs, without having to remember their bank account details," Soumitra Sen, head (consumer banking and marketing) at IndusInd Bank, said.

Sen added that enabling foreign remittance through UPI is a major milestone towards strengthening its usage as a platform, and will go a long way in enhancing its adoption by NRIs across geographies.

NPCI Chief Operating Officer Praveena Rai hoped that the initiative will offer a much simpler and more efficient remittance experience for international travellers using UPI.

"We are confident that our association would act as one of the major contributing factors towards the evolution of cross-border payments through UPI," she said.

Source: Economic Times

RBI allows LIC to double its stake in IndusInd Bank

IndusInd Bank on Friday informed that the bank has received an intimation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it has granted its approval to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), shareholder of the bank, to raise stake in the private lender to up to 9.99%. LIC currently holds 4.95% of the total issued and paid up capital of IndusInd.

The said approval is valid for a period of one year i.e. up to December 8, 2022. Shares of IndusInd Bank were trading over 1% higher in Friday's opened deals at ₹961 apiece on the BSE.

"The approval is subject to compliance with the provisions of the Master Direction on "Prior approval for acquisition of shares or voting rights in private sector banks dated November 19, 2015 and Master Direction on 'Ownership in private sector banks' dated May 12, 2016, provisions of the applicable regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and any other guidelines/regulations and statutes, as applicable. The approval is valid for a period of one year," IndusInd Bank said in an exchange filing today.

The RBI norms mandate that every person or an entity who intends to make an acquisition in private banks of more than 5% stake, has to take prior approval from the central bank. LIC's raising of stake is subject to compliance with the provisions of the directions given by RBI in 2015 and required regulations by the market regulator SEBI.

Last month, Kotak Mahindra Bank had informed that LIC has received approval from the RBI to raise its stake in lender to up to 9.99%.

Source :  Livemint

IndusInd Bank's subsidiary defers review of decision to relieve top 2 execs

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank on Monday said two of the top executives of its subsidiary, Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL), have tendered their resignation but have offered their assistance in the ongoing review of certain transactions that happened at the company, which resulted in the bank appointing an international audit firm to conduct an independent review.

Having said that, the bank informed the stock exchanges that the board of BFIL has put off the consideration of the decision to relieve these two executives off their positions until the ongoing review of certain transactions at Bharat Financial Inclusion is completed.

In an exchange filing, the bank said, “Mr Shalabh Saxena and Mr Ashish Damani, currently employed with BFIL in the capacity of the Managing Director & CEO and the Executive Director & CFO, respectively, have tendered their resignations pursuant to emails addressed to the Chairman of the Board of BFIL on November 25, 2021.”

Saxena and Damani have been appointed as the MD & CEO and President & CFO of Spandana Sphoorty, respectively.

“Both the employees have offered their assistance in the ongoing review of transactions related to BFIL, for which the bank has appointed a renowned international audit firm to conduct independent review and ascertain veracity of the anonymous complaints. The board of BFIL has deferred consideration of the decision to relieve them until the completion of the ongoing review,” the lender said.

Last week, the bank had said that the two top executives of BFIL cannot be relieved from their positions until the review of certain transactions at the company is completed. Earlier this month, the bank had said that BFIL had disbursed nearly 84,000 loans without customer consent in May due to a technical bug. The bank said an independent review has been initiated to see if there was any process lapse or accounting failure at BFIL.

According to the terms of their employment agreement with BFIL, Saxena and Damani are prohibited from accepting employment at a competitor such as SSFL, unless approved in writing by the board of BFIL.

Meanwhile, the lender has nominated J Sridharan, who has over two decades of experience in managing finance, governance and MIS functions at the bank, as Executive Director on the board of BFIL and Srinivas Bonam to oversee the day-to-day functioning of BFIL. It has also appointed KV Rao, former Chief Operating Of!icer and Head Member Services for 11 years at BFIL, as an advisor for strengthening the field processes.

Source :Business Standard