1. CREDIT GROWTH OF BANKS SLOWED DOWN TO 8.1% IN 2016-17: As per Bradstreet Report, the credit growth of all banks slowed down to 8.1% in 2016-17, down from 10.9% in the previous year. Aggregate deposits improved to 15.9% in the same period compared to 9.3% in the previous year. The deposit growth can be attributed to the massive inflow of funds in to the banking system after demonetization. Nevertheless the banks’rising NPAs(Non-Performing Assets) is a big headache for the Psu Banks.

2. IT MAY TAKE ATMs 3 MONTHS TO DISPENSE Rs.200/- NOTES: While RBI has already launched Rs. 200 currency notes in the system a week ago, it may take up to 3 months for ATMs to dispense the new currency as it will involve huge exercise of recalibration. The banks have not yet got the supply of Rs. 200 currency but some banks have asked the ATM companies to begin testing the new note for the recalibration. It is yet to be seen whether all the 2.2 lakh ATM machines across the country would be recalibrated for dispensing the new note.

3. SBI CARDS TO START CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS SOON: SBI Cards has doubled its base in three years to over 50 lakhs cards. Sbi Cards is updating its mobile application and all its customers could soon make payments merely by tapping their smartphone on a swipe machine. Some card holders are already using this cardless payment facility on the Samsung Pay Platform. The bank plans to launch its own proprietary application which enables virtualisation of the card and any smartphone subscriber can pay by just tapping his mobile phone if he is a SBI card holder.

4. NBFCs’ SHARE IN LOANS REACH AN ALL TIME HIGH:Non-BankingFinance Companies (NBFCs) are on a roll as their share in retails lending in India has reached an all-time high of 36% at the end of March 2017. They continue to grow faster than both private and public sector banks. NBFCs have shown a growth of 17% over the previous yearas against a growth of 15% as reported by private sector banks and 2.5% decline in retail loans by PSU banks.

5. GOVERNMENT MUST PUMP IN MORE CAPITAL IN TO PSU BANKS FOR EFFECTIVE NPA RESOLUTION: Fitch Ratings has said that weak capital position of PSU banks have a major negative influence on Indian Banks viability reports and these banks will come under more pressure if the problem is not addressed. The report says the government has to pump in additional capital in to PSU banks to make them tackle the NPA menace effectively and raise their loan growth.

6. HDFC BANK’S “EVA” BECOMES INDIA’S SMARTEST CHATBOT: HDFC Bank, in collaboration with Bangaluru based company Senseforth has launched “EVA”( Electronic Virtual Assistant) in March this year on its website. Since then EVA has interacted with over 5, 30,000 unique users, holding 1.2 million conversations and has addressed 2.7 million customer queries to become India’s largest banking “Chatbot”.

7. BANKS WITHOUT AADHAAR ENROLLMENT CENTRES TO FACE FINE FROM OCTOBER: The UIDAI has given banks one month time to open Aadhaar enrolment centres in a stipulated 10% of branches and if this is not implemented, a fine of Rs. 20,000 per uncovered branch will be imposed after September 30^th.

8. SBI TOO LAUNCHES ITS OWN AI-POWERED “CHATBOT”: State Bank of India too has launched its own chatbot to handle customer queries and guide them through range of retail products and services. The chatbot is named “SBI Intelligent Assistant” (SIA) and is currently undergoing beta testing.