Citibank India on Monday announced a new paperless mobile payment system that would allow its credit and debit card customers to do away with the charge slips.

The new system is a lightweight device that you can plug into a smartphones or a tablet. While you can swipe a credit/debit card on this device, the new solution is incorporated to the businesses' back-end system. It also allows its users to get a confirmation on his/her mobile phone following a successful transaction.

HDFC Bank, India's second-biggest private sector lender, on Friday reported a 30 per cent year-on-year growth in its third-quarter net profit from Rs 1,429.66 crore to Rs 1,859 crore, mainly due to strong traction in fee-based income growth.

Net interest income and other income jumped 22 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, in the three months ended December 31 from the corresponding period of the previous year. This was the 53rd quarter in a row in which HDFC Bank enjoyed an annual growth of 30 per cent or more in net profit. Fees and commissions, to key contributors to the bank's other income, climbed 24.3 per cent over the same period of time.

In a bid to benefit the government's divestment programme, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has relaxed bidding norms for purchase of shares on offer for sale from existing shareholders.

SEBI provided institutional investors with an option to bid for shares without paying any margin. But, such bidders can not revise or cancel the bids to a lower price; however, they can raise them. Investors who will revise their bids for shares on offer for sale will have to pay 100 per cent upfront margins.

According to the latest figures released, customers in Ireland used their Visa cards to spend a whopping €15.5 billion during the previous year, setting a new record for the company in the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against grating bank licenses to the industrial houses in India.

The global financial body wrote in its new update on financial stability in India that the industrial houses must be permitted to own banks. Renowned economist Joseph Stiglitz had recently suggested against granting such licenses to industrial owners during his visit to the country.

Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank are looking to acquire the Indian retail assets of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), according to reports.

The two banks are negotiating terms to acquire the Indian retail assets of the Scottish bank. Some people closer to the matter indicated that the two banks have expressed interest but there is no certainty that the deal will be finalized.

Mumbai, Jan 12 : India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves decreased by $1.58 million to $294.99 billion for the week ended Jan 4, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

The reserves had increased by $39.6 million to $296.57 billion for the week ended Dec 28, 2012.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - went down by $951.7 million at $261.06 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the RBI.

The FCA went up by $63.9 million at $262.01 billion in the previous week.

The Federal Reserve said has said that the new mortgage settlement agreement reached with a host of lenders is likely to help the home owners, who had to deal with improper foreclosures.

They said that the $8.5 billion national mortgage settlement offers another chance to the home owners to access some financial relief following the housing market collapse in the US. The deal is the second major mortgage settlement in two years and is likely to improve housing recovery and also help people who are struggling to pay their mortgages.

Bank of America Corp has reached agreements to resolve major issues involving the bank following the crippling economic crisis.

Global regulators on Sunday gave banks around the world four more years to meet new liquidity rules designed to prevent financial crises.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn A. King, who is also the chairman of the regulators' group, said they provided more time to banks as the strict rules could damage the economic recovery. However, he stressed that regulators had no intent to go easier on lenders.

The Parliament approval of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, is expected to provide a great boost to the economy by attracting foreign investors, creating new banks, expanding the existing ones, and generating thousands of new jobs.

Industry watchdog in the UK has imposed a fine of £113,300 on Co-operative Bank for failing to handle the claims relating to the mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) to the customers.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) reported ‘serious failings’ on the part of the bank in handling claims. It is the first fine imposed on a bank and comes after a review of how the bank handled more than 1,600 PPI complaints from the customers. The regulator found that the bank put unfair number of claims on hold between 21 January and 9 May 2011.

G Padmanabhan, executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has defended the bank's stance on investing in gold, saying it is entirely different from private agents.

The RBI has long been preaching against investment in gold as high investment in gold is one of the main reasons for high Current Account Deficit (CAD) is gold imports. But the central bank has diversified its own assets into gold.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has cautioned the government that granting banking licences to corporate entities would be a move laden with risks.

Speaking at the 15th CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture, organized by the RBI, Stiglitz allowing corporates to have their own banks would lead to corporate conflicts of interest.

London, Jan 4 : The Italian central bank has suspended all bank card payments in the Vatican because of a failure to fully implement anti money laundering legislation.

A group of experts from the Council of Europe said last year that the Vatican had made progress in reforming its legislation to meet EU standards, but that a lot of work remained to be done.

A working group of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended establishment of a gold bank as a `backstop facility' to offer refinance to institutions that lend against the precious yellow metal.

The recommended backstop facility could help mobilize non-official gold holdings, and direct them into a centralized pool and organize them in a productive manner. The move could also help in pooling idle gold.

As per some estimates, nearly 300 tonnes of scrap gold enters the economy per year.

Veteran banker Ashwani Kumar has taken over as chairman & managing director (CMD) of Public sector lender Dena Bank, effective January 01, 2013 for a term of five years.

Mr. Kumar owns a rich banking experience of more than three decades serving. Before joining Dena Bank, he was serving the Corporation Bank as its executive director since December 01, 2010. Prior to that, he served Allahabad Bank.

Economist Urjit R Patel, a consultant with Boston Consulting Group, will fill the gap created by the retirement of RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, sources familiar with the developments said.

Emerging reports suggest that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has already approved Mr. Patel's name for the crucial post of deputy governor in charge of monetary policy at RBI, and a formal announcement could be made shortly.

The post became vacant on December 31, after Mr. Gokarn left the office after a three-year term and one-month extension.

Market experts have said that sectors including FMCG, pharmaceuticals and banking and financial services (BFSI) saw increased investors interest during the coming year, 2012.

Dealers on the Dalal Street expect the FMCG, pharmaceutical and private bank shares to continue their increase in the New Year. They said that these sectors will continue to be safer bets in the coming year as the stocks are in upward trend and have a lot of potential.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest public sector lender, has announced the launch of a mobile wallet service called MobiCash Easy, which offers facilities like fund transfer, bill payment, DTH recharge, balance inquiry and mobile top-ups.

State Bank MobiCash Easy, which is currently available only in Mumbai and Delhi, can be had over Wallet Application and plain text SMS. The public sector lender has launched the new service in partnership with a private service provider Oxigen to offer 24x7 money transfer and other services.