Page 6 - Banking Finance April 2021

BANK UPDATE

population per bank branch in the "The fake site collects data directly Loan repayment delays at
country - as per a preliminary without any verification and is
assessment of these banks. registered by a third party instead of BoB surge in March -
having the registrant organization December
Among these, the States from the
southern region have had a high name of State Bank of India, making it Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP)
concentration of MFIs (microfinance all the more suspicious", according to document declared that such stressed
institutions) since the time micro the report of CyberPeace Foundation loans, which are yet to The
finance originated in India in the early- along with Autobot Infosec Private Ltd. repayments of loans, which are delayed
1990s, the article said. SFBs, too, many As per the statement of SBI, they, like up to 90 days, have surged at Bank of
of which are MFIs turned into banks, any other reputed banking entity, Baroda (BoB) between March and
have largely followed this pattern of never communicate with their December, 2020 keeping in mind the
branch expansion. customers via SMS or e-mails building up of stress. It is stated that if
containing links about the user's the loans remain unpaid beyond 90
Furthermore, there appears to be
account. days, they will now be classified as
some similarity in the branch spread of
private sector banks and SFBs, with The title name of the website is traced Non-Performing Assets (NPAs).
both showing a greater concentration to be 'Home-Earn Redeem Points' BoB in a Recent turn non-performing,
in the relatively well-banked regions/ using a source code analysis. The user have risen sharply from 8.01% of its
States. is being redirected to a WordPress domestic loan book as on 31 March,
website after clicking the tag found in 2020, to 21.57% as on 31 December.
The article said the rapid increase of
the source code. In other words, Special Mention
SFB branches has been in semiurban
and urban centres; in March 2020, Accounts (SMAs) or loans delayed by 1-
about 39 per cent of the total SFB SBI reduces interest rates 90 days have increased by 13.56%
branches were semiurban in nature, of home loan to 6.70% points since COVID-19 struck the
followed by 26 per cent in urban State Bank of India has cut down the country.
centres. As per the norms of the RBI, the
minimum interest rate at which it will
borrowers must be categorized into
now offer home loans from 6.80% to
SBI customers targeted 6.70%. It is effective for a limited special mention accounts based on
with text phishing scam period of time, up to March 31, 2021. their repayment delays. Special
Mention Account-0 (SMA- 0) loans are
According to CyberPeace Foundation, As per the official statement given by where the repayment overdue is
a New Delhi-based cyber security think SBI, home loan interest rates start at between 1 to 30 days, SMA-1
tank, some of the SBI customers have 6.70% for loans up to Rs. 75 lakh and (between 31 to 60 days) and SMA-2
recently received suspicious messages 6.75% for loans in the range of Rs. 75 (61-90 days). Among these three
which shows a link to redeem their SBI lakh to Rs. 5 crore. The lender is categories, the loans under SMA-2 are
credit points worth Rs. 9,870. continuing with 100% waiver on closely monitored as they are on the
processing fees. edge of turning worse.
The link written in the message is
redirecting the customer to a fake "Overall, it is offering concession of up
website, on which a 'State Bank of to 70 basis points based on loan BoB to implement lateral
India Fill Your Details' form is showing. amount and credit score. This also hiring for digital banking
The user is then asked to submit some includes a concession of 5 basis points
personal and financial information - each for women borrowers and digital roles
name, date of birth, e-mail ID, sourcing through the YONO app", the While banks have been hiring directly
registered mobile number, card bank added. The Deputy Managing from the market focusing primarily for
number, expiry date, CVV and MPIN. Director (Retail Business), SBI, Saloni the senior and vertical head posts,
As per the report, the domain name of Narayan stated that this reduced Bank of Baroda is all set to accelerate
the website can be traced to India, interest rates are one of the best rates lateral hiring in some fields like digital
and the registrant state is Tamil Nadu. in home loans. lending and mobile banking, and areas

6 | 2021 | APRIL | BANKING FINANCE