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The <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> has imposed <keyword id="21834852" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monetary-penalties" source="keywords">monetary penalties</keyword> on three Non-Banking Financial Companies for <keyword id="20170050" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="non-compliance" source="keywords">non-compliance</keyword> with directions of <keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="keywords">RBI</keyword> on <keyword id="20200326" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="housing-finance-companies" source="keywords">housing finance companies</keyword>. As per the official statement from RBI on Friday, it has imposed a monetary <keyword id="19899183" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="penalty" source="keywords">penalty</keyword> of Rs 5 lakh on <keyword id="23068625" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Godrej-Housing-Finance" source="keywords">Godrej Housing Finance</keyword> Limited, Rs 5 lakh on <keyword id="20389260" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aadhar-Housing-Finance" source="keywords">Aadhar Housing Finance</keyword> Limited, and Rs 3.5 lakh on Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited. These penalties by the regulator have been imposed in the exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 52A of the <keyword id="20200606" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Housing-Bank" source="keywords">National Housing Bank</keyword> Act, 1987. As per RBI, the statutory inspection of these companies was conducted by the National Housing Bank (NHB) with reference to their financial positions as of March 31, 2022. The RBI stated that based on the supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the companies advising them to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed on them for their failure to comply with the RBI directions. After considering the companies' replies to the notice, oral submissions during the personal hearing, and additional submissions made by them, the RBI found that Godrej Housing Finance Limited failed to obtain two independent valuation reports before sanctioning certain loans of Rs 75 lakh and above. For Aadhar Housing Finance Limited, the RBI stated that the company charged interest on loans for a period prior to the date of the actual disbursement of the loan/issuance of the check to certain borrowers, in contravention of RBI directions on the 'Fair Practices Code.' The penalty on Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited has been imposed because the company failed to undertake risk categorization of its customers during the financial year 2021-22, did not put in place a system for periodic review of risk categorization of accounts, and did not create a floating charge on the assets invested by it in terms of Section 29B of the NHB Act, in favor of its depositors, and register the same with the Registrar of Companies.

RBI imposes penalties on three housing finance companies for non-compliance with directions

In March 2023, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser anointed Anand Selva, as the bank's chief operating officer. His mandate: oversee a deeply unsexy yet crucial initiative to regain compliance with regulators. At the time, she praised his "long track record of delivering results."So far, Selva's tenure has been rocky.In July, two regulators <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-jane-fraser-regulatory-citigroup-transformation-2024-7">fined Citi $135.6 million</a> for failing to make enough progress in fixing its data-management issues. The bank had agreed in 2020 to work on this problem and others, including poor risk controls, after <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/citigroup-slammed-400-mln-fine-longstanding-deficiencies-regulation-occ-fed-2020-10-1029660295">paying $400 million</a> in fines to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC said in July that the bank had made "meaningful progress overall" but that the agency wanted to ensure Citi allocated enough resources to address the "persistent weaknesses" regarding data.These new fines are despite Citi dedicating massive resources to a firmwide initiative to overhaul the bank's technology. This program, called the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-transformation-citigroup-regulatory-fine-anand-selvakesari-2024-7">"Transformation"</a> and overseen by Selva, has about 13,000 employees. Citi spent $7.4 billion on the endeavor from 2021 through 2023. This year's budget has been increased by $250 million, to more than $3 billion.The pressure is on, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren urging the OCC to "impose growth restrictions" on Citi, arguing that it has grown "too big to manage." The regulator and Citi declined to comment."We've always said that progress wouldn't be linear," Fraser said after the latest fines, "and we have no doubt that we will be successful in getting our firm where it needs to be in terms of our Transformation."For Selva, leading the Transformation is unlike any test he has faced in his three-decade career at Citi. Selva, who goes by the shortened version of his last name, Selvakesari, joined Citi as an assistant operations manager in Chennai, India, in 1991. He rose through the ranks in Asia before taking over the US consumer bank in 2019. When Fraser was made CEO in 2021, she chose Selva, who's now 57, to replace her as the global head of consumer banking.In his current role, his mandate is to make the bank safer, not to turn a profit. To do so, he has to solve for Citi's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-real-reasons-behind-citi-mike-corbat-early-retirement-2020-9">decades of underinvestment</a> in its infrastructure, which affects every business line of the bank.Business Insider talked to 14 current and former Citi employees who have worked under Selva to get a picture of the challenge facing him and why he was put in charge of the bank's No. 1 priority. All but two spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal or the sensitivity of regulatory matters. Three senior executives pointed to his experience navigating regulation and working with technology from running Citi's consumer bank. Gonzalo Luchetti, Selva's successor as the head of the US consumer business, told BI that serving 70 million customers required handling tremendous operational risk."If we mess it up, usually you don't mess it up for one; you mess it up for hundreds of thousands, if not millions," he said. "You have to be super good at process orientation and making sure that there's high discipline and rigor."Luchetti also emphasized Selva's longevity at Citi and experience across regions."He knows the fabric of the firm very well," Luchetti said. "The Transformation is about really repiping the machine. He's touched a lot of the machine himself."But touching the machine isn't the same as fixing it. Eight employees told BI that they were surprised that Selva was made the head of the Transformation given that he had never held a leadership role in technology or compliance. They described Citi's culture as a cliquey environment that rewards managing up over results, noting that the COO promotion followed dismal performance for the wealth unit he oversaw."The biggest job was given to a guy who with 1 ½ years in wealth wasn't able to do anything," a former managing director said.Selva has also come under scrutiny for a lawsuit filed against him and the bank by an ex-Transformation executive in May. Kathleen Martin, a former interim data chair, alleged that Selva pressured her to hide information from the OCC that would make Citi "look bad" and that she was fired in September 2023 after multiple refusals. Citi denied the accusations and filed a counterclaim in late August, alleging that Martin was fired for underperformance. Citi has recently made leadership changes to Selva's unit. The bank tapped its new tech head, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citi-data-tim-ryan-anand-selva-memo-transformation-regulators-2024-9">Tim Ryan</a>, to lead the data effort alongside Selva and take over management of the 800-employee data team. The work on data, along with risks and controls, is paramount to the Transformation.Splitting the burden may expedite the massive task, which requires coordinating work from employees across the entire bank. Citi declined to specify a timeline, citing the confidential nature of regulatory matters. A managing director in the Transformation estimated that the work required would take about two decades.Mike Mayo, a Wells Fargo analyst, said that until Citi meets the requirements of the OCC and the Federal Reserve, the bank is in "regulatory purgatory.""Citi has thrown over 10,000 people and $3 billion and more at this problem," Mayo told BI in July. "They just have to get it done."Selva does have a long track record at Citi. Born in Madurai, a large city in southern India, he studied engineering and played basketball at the Coimbatore Institute of Technology. He earned his master's in business administration at Madurai Kamaraj University before joining Citi in 1991.Selva made his name at Citi by shaping its consumer-bank businesses across Asia. He led retail banking in China and India before taking over the Asia Pacific market in 2015. His approach was digital-first, eschewing branches for banking apps. Despite closing 60% of bank branches in Asia from 2016 through 2018, Selva grew deposits by 10%.<div type="image" title="Citi's Anand Selva speaking at a panel, seated and wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie." height="3307" width="4960" msid="114093573" hostid="261" sizebytes="2310830"></div>"He's very tech and digital-oriented," Luchetti said. "We've been to China together to look at startups and firms that were disrupting the world. He was always very connected with learning more about technology, had that curiosity, and then the execution chops to get it done here."In 2019, Selva moved from Singapore to New York, where he now lives with his family, to run the US consumer bank. He assumed the global consumer-banking business from Fraser in 2021. Selva leaned on credit-card and lending offerings, launching products like Citi Custom Cash which allowed customers to pick their reward categories, and Flex Pay, a buy-now, pay-later service. Under Selva, Citi was the No. 2 issuer of credit cards in the US, and deposits grew by more than a third, to about $220 billion.In 2021, Citi started divesting itself of more than a dozen consumer-bank markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Selva was an important player on both sides of the table, according to Adora Tidalgo, the head of operational risk management at Citi. She said he helped find Asian acquirers that maximized value for Citi while keeping the businesses running smoothly with low attrition."That skill of balancing how much you want to bring in terms of revenue and the credit loss you want to take is really a skill that very much needs to be honed in the consumer space," she said. "That balancing, to me, I have seen Anand over the year been very successful in doing that."There have been some bumps in the road. As part of Fraser's reorganization of the bank in 2021, Selva gained oversight of a newly formed wealth unit and its new leader, Jim O'Donnell. Six current and former managing directors told BI that Selva's approach focused more on scale and digital offerings than high-touch client service. For instance, he didn't approve loans that failed to meet a certain threshold of return, even if it meant losing an important client, two former managing directors said."The way that every private banker on earth thinks about relationships is you need to invest in relationships, and then as you start to do more business with clients, you start getting more and more valuable opportunities with them," one of the former managing directors said. "You have to look at the relationship. You can't just look at every single transaction."Employees argued that Selva's playbook may have worked to build scale in Asia but not to satisfy well-heeled — and much more sought-after — US clients."I think Anand's decisions were comparing everything to what he knew from his time in Asia, and they are completely different markets," another former managing director said. "In Asia, Citi has a very recognizable brand, and people actually want to bank with Citi. You don't have to sell it that hard."<div type="image" title="Citi CEO Jane Fraser testifying at Congress" height="3828" width="5846" msid="114093582" hostid="261" sizebytes="314760"></div>The wealth business' revenue dropped by 6% year over year at the end of 2022. Fraser called the division's performance "disappointing." O'Donnell's reign over wealth was cut short in January 2023, and it was later placed under <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andy-sieg-citi-wealth-management-ceo-2024-6">Andy Sieg</a>, the former head of Merrill Wealth Management. With Citi on a campaign to divest itself of 14 international consumer-bank markets, Selva's remit shrank.His appointment as COO thrust him into the spotlight. Tidalgo told BI that he was no stranger to the task of dealing with regulators."When you are the head of a country, you are the face of Citi to the regulators. Good, bad, or indifferent, you have to face them," she said. "That's part of the job."Citi's Transformation and its challenges predate Selva's appointment as COO. It existed as a firmwide initiative before the October 2020 fines but was kicked into overdrive after Citi entered consent orders with the OCC and the Federal Reserve.It can be viewed as two parts. The most visible is the strategy to simplify and modernize the bank, such as divesting Asian consumer businesses, removing five layers of management, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citigroup-reorganization-layoffs-management-overhaul-reorganization-jane-fraser-stock-price-2023-9">reorganizing</a> so that the five business lines report directly to Fraser.The second part is meant to address the 2020 consent orders. The initiative is separated into seven programs, including finance, compliance, and risk and controls. While some 13,000 employees are dedicated to the Transformation, much of this work is carried out by employees across the bank. Selva sits at the center, coordinating these efforts. He's in a tough position, as much of the Transformation's work is executed by employees in other divisions."The challenge with the Transformation role is you are accountable yet not responsible," the managing director in the Transformation said. "The role is really coordinating and getting others to do what they need to do, which is very different from running a business where the entire team follows your lead, you own it, you have the ability to actually get them to do this stuff."When everyone is accountable, effectively no one is, a former senior vice president in the Transformation said. Matters got stuck in bureaucracy, bouncing from one department to another and being debated in committee for months.A senior executive in the Transformation acknowledged that the programs often rely on each other's work. For example, a delay in data work can lead to one for a finance project."When we are asked sometimes why it is challenging to execute on the Transformation, one of the challenges is the interconnectivity of those seven works," she said.The senior executive said the Transformation's successes had been overlooked, partly because the bank is limited in what it can say on regulatory matters. For instance, Citi has retired or replaced a quarter of its applications, halfway to its overall goal. The bank declined to specify the number of existing or terminated applications, but as of July, it had retired nearly 300 applications this year. The senior executive also touted the bank's streamlining its risk-management workflow.But the Transformation has earned a middling grade from Citi itself. The bank evaluates the initiative's success for the purposes of a bonus program applicable to about 200 senior employees, including Selva. In 2022, an internal committee gave it a score of 94%, citing targets it met, such as submitting remediation plans to regulators.For 2023, the score sank to 80%, calculated by measuring the timeliness of executing scheduled work, the percentage of work deemed complete by the bank's internal auditors, and a "qualitative consideration of Citi's cultural change" derived from the bank's employee surveys.<div type="image" title="Headshot of Citi's new tech head Tim Ryan, smiling and wearing a black suit jacket with a light blue shirt" height="739" width="985" msid="114093578" hostid="261" sizebytes="32120"></div>Bringing in Ryan, the bank's head of technology and business enablement, to help the bank catch up makes sense. The recruiter Phil Waxelbaum argued that a more traditional candidate to help lead the Transformation would be a seasoned, high-ranking person from a regulatory agency. But someone with a nonbanking background such as consulting or technology can work, too, according to recruiter Jeffrey Warren. Ryan joined Citi in June after seven years leading the US business of PricewaterhouseCoopers."In situations like this when you are looking to drive transformation, you need someone who can work at the intersection of people, processes, and technology," said Warren, managing director at Russell Reynolds Associates. "That includes working from within and likely driving some change with new people who have experience in new technologies or new ways of doing things."Ryan is now sharing data, a significant component of the Transformation, with Selva. Another PwC alum, Citi's head of enterprise risk management, Ashutosh Nawani, will take over the chief data office from one of Selva's lieutenants, Japan Mehta, and report to Ryan. Mehta will move to another role that the bank declined to specify.Employees told BI that they thought bringing in Ryan and Nawani would help."Sure, there might be some reservation that more consultants are coming in to run Citi, but there is a positive vibe of changing senior leadership," the former senior vice president in the Transformation said. "Legacy Citi culture is what got us into this spot in the first place."While the July fines did not meaningfully move Citi's stock, they have placed the bank and the Transformation under greater scrutiny. The OCC has ordered Citi to provide a resource-review plan each quarter to ensure the bank is providing enough resources for the effort. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also required the bank to address the Transformation's progress in future filings.The outstanding issues have also impeded Citi from expanding in China. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-23/citigroup-s-china-expansion-plan-put-on-hold-by-us-regulators">Bloomberg</a>, the bank is still waiting on a clearance letter from the Federal Reserve to set up a securities office. The bank declined to comment on the process but said it was "fully committed to supporting clients" in China.<div type="image" title="Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at a hearing on Capitol Hill on January 11, 2024." height="1333" width="2000" msid="114093583" hostid="261" sizebytes="96482"></div>Regulators placing an asset cap on Citi, as Senator Warren has requested, isn't out of the realm of possibility, said Timothy Coffey, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott."At what point do the regulators just get fed up with Citi's inability to adequately resolve these issues or stick to the timeline that they've laid out?" he said. "That's an open-ended question."But the consent orders and the lack of progress are distractions in themselves. When Fraser took over Citi nearly four years ago, she said the Transformation was her No. 1 priority and asked for patience. Now her requests for time are wearing thin. Regardless of who leads the Transformation, Fraser is still accountable."This stays out here in terms of headline risk, and I think it puts a cap on the valuation that Citi can achieve," said Stephen Biggar, an Argus Research analyst. "It's an overhang on the stock. It's an overhang on the reputation of Fraser."Do you work for Citi? Have a tip or story to share? Reach out to Hayley Cuccinello at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:hcuccinello@businessinsider.com">hcuccinello@businessinsider.com</a> or 917 740 5340, which works for calls, text, and the encrypted messaging app Signal.

Meet the executive tasked with Citi's hardest challenge: getting the bank's house in order

A bill seeking to provide for four nominees by a bank account holder was introduced in the <keyword id="19895394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Lok Sabha" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Lok Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> on Friday to ensure better protection of depositors and enhance customer convenience. Introduced by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lower House, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has a provision for simultaneous and successive nominations to bank accounts, lockers, etc. As per the provision of the bill, a bank account holder can nominate up to four persons. The bill also seeks to transfer of unclaimed dividends, shares, and interest or redemption of bonds to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), allowing individuals to claim transfers or refunds from the fund, and thus safeguarding investors' interests. As the banking sector has evolved over the years, and with a view to improving bank governance and investor protection, it has become necessary to make certain amendments to five Acts, according to Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill. The Bill, which was approved by the <keyword id="19916620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Cabinet" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Union Cabinet" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Union Cabinet">Union Cabinet</keyword> last week, proposes to amend the <keyword id="20824389" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India-Act" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India Act</keyword>, 1934, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the State Bank of India Act, 1955, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980. The proposed bill seeks to improve governance standards, provide consistency in reporting by banks to the Reserve Bank of India, ensure better protection for depositors and investors, improve audit quality in public sector banks, bring customer convenience in respect of nominations, and to provide for increase in the tenure of the directors in co-operative banks. Another proposed change relates to redefining 'substantial interest' for directorships, which could increase to Rs 2 crore instead of the current limit of Rs 5 lakh, which was fixed almost six decades ago. Congress member Manish Tewari opposed the introduction of the bill, saying the power to legislate with regard to cooperatives vests with state governments. RSP member N K Premachandran opposed amending five legislations through one bill, while TMC member Saugata Roy termed the bill "superfluous", saying the the amendments proposed in the bill could have been done through administrative decisions. Responding to opposition's remarks, <keyword id="19956758" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-Minister" source="keywords">Finance Minister</keyword> Nirmala Sitharaman said the various amendments done in Banking Regulations Act with respect to <keyword id="20814377" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cooperative-banks" source="keywords">cooperative banks</keyword> are not just one or two but several. "Simple understanding is we are not touching any aspect of the cooperatives other than that which claims under the name of banking...the sections which have been brought in for amendments, as also the court verdicts, have repeatedly reinforced the point that Banking Regulation Act and the Cooperative Banks do have this relationship and therefore it has to be taken through this route," she said. Otherwise, there is no attempt to undermine the cooperatives, particularly cooperatives dealing with everything other than banks, she said defending the Bill. The bill proposes to increase the tenure of directors (excluding the chairman and whole-time director) in cooperative banks from 8 years to 10 years, so as to align with the Constitution (Ninety-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2011. Once passed, the bill would allow a director of a Central Cooperative Bank to serve on the board of a State Cooperative Bank. The bill also seeks to give greater freedom to banks in deciding the remuneration to be paid to statutory auditors. It also seeks to redefine the reporting dates for banks for regulatory compliance to the 15th and last day of every month, instead of the second and fourth Fridays. "What's the rationale behind it? The current reporting Friday system has several limitations that impact the accuracy and effectiveness of the reporting of data. "These limitations are incomplete coverage of monthly data, seasonal fluctuations in banking activity which lead to inconsistent reporting, and the need for adjustment every 11th year which introduces complications and inconsistencies. That is why, in order to address the issue, it is proposed to amend the legislation," she said. The announcement about amendments to the Banking Regulation Act was made by the Finance Minister in the 2023-24 Budget speech. "To improve bank governance and enhance <keyword id="22728161" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investors-protection" source="keywords">investors' protection</keyword>, certain amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, the Banking Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act are proposed," she had said.

Bill to provide up to four nominees to a bank account introduced in Lok Sabha

Imagine this. You have a younger sibling you’re mighty envious of. And why not? Unlike you, they seem to enjoy all the freedom and money in the world. They party like there’s no tomorrow, and here you are, stuck in a boring, ultra-disciplined but responsible routine that feels completely devoid of any independence, and mostly, funds. But of late, things are changing. This sibling is in massive trouble and just cannot escape the parent’s wrath anymore. Long story short, the party is over, and it is time to go back home. The rising defaults on this sibling’s part have now begun pulling the entire house down, thereby attracting the regulator’s ire. <h2>The Wild West of microfinance and unsecured loans</h2>It's hard to ignore the issues with microfinance and unsecured loans in India. Many saw them as a small gamble and ignored the rising defaults much like the younger siblings’ tantrums, and now they find themselves in hot waters. The skyrocketing instances of non-payments aren't a micro-issue anymore and are threatening the stability of the entire banking system. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, 5 of India’s 8 largest private sector <keyword id="19934118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="keywords">banks</keyword> reported a steep rise in their bad loan book, mostly thanks to microfinance loans. Some banks, in a bid to strengthen their fortress against these <keyword id="142154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bad-loans" source="Orion">bad loans</keyword>, have significantly upped their provisions. For instance, <keyword id="46717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IndusInd-bank" source="Orion">IndusInd Bank</keyword> set aside Rs 525 crore during July and September 2024 to battle the menace of defaults on microfinance loans, which make up about 9% of its total loan book. See, banks rely heavily on their interest income, which they earn from advancing loans. Any loan where the borrower has not paid interest to the bank or defaulted for 90 days or more becomes bad, i.e., an <keyword id="79363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="npa" source="Orion">NPA</keyword>, or non-performing asset for the bank. And who likes things going bad? Simply put, there has been a steep rise in three areas, much to the dislike of banks and MFIs (micro-finance institutions). But hey, it's mostly their doing! <ol><li>GNPA ratio (gross net performing assets): The quantum of non-performing assets a bank has in proportion to its total assets.</li><li>Provision: The amount banks set aside to take care of such NPAs.</li><li>Slippage ratio: The rate at which good girls go bad, or the speed at which good loans turn into NPAs</li></ol>But how are these plaguing the Indian banking sector? And what does the road ahead look like? We decode it for you. <h2> Microfinance: A not-so-micro-menace</h2>Microfinance loans were initially brought forth for low-income households and individuals, i.e. for those who might not generally have access to traditional ways of credit, like bank loans and more. They don’t require collateral or an asset to be pledged in lieu of the loan, making it a tad bit easier for borrowers. As of June 2024, the amount of outstanding loans in the microfinance industry stood at a staggering Rs 4,20,256 crore. Of this, NBFC-MFIs accounted for 40% and banks made for 33% of these. In 2022, <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="Orion">RBI</keyword>, in a bid to inspire some competition in this space, did something radical-they did away with the ceiling on how much interest MFIs could charge their customers. Previously, MFIs could add up to 12% to their cost of acquiring funds to determine the final interest rate chargeable to the consumer. So, assuming that Bank A incurs a 5% cost to acquire funds for further loaning, A could charge up to 17% interest from the end consumer. So, interest rates were in the hands of MFIs, and boy, did they have a gala time with it. Instead of spurring some healthy competition, as RBI expected, MFIs and banks went rogue and all guns blazing, competing for the title of “Who will charge the highest interest?” Recently, RBI banned 4 microfinance institutions (MFIs), namely Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, Arohan Financial Services Limited, DMI Finance Private Limited, and Navi Finserv, from disbursing loans effective October 21, 2024. Why? Because they were charging 14% extra interest over their original cost of funds. To maintain their loan books (and pockets), banks and NBFCs resorted to shady practices like netting off loans, which RBI has now advised MFIs against. Here, lenders allow borrowers to settle a previous outstanding loan by issuing them a new loan! As crazy as it sounds, it helped banks to report less of their total assets as NPAs, since the new credit would cover pending installments of the borrower’s previous loan. Then there was the issue of borrowers overleveraging, i.e. taking multiple loans using different IDs from various lenders and then failing to honor any of them. The consequence? Banks and NBFCs end up with massive NPAs. Data from credit bureaus suggests that over the last quarter, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of borrowers who had 5 or more active loans at the same time. <h2>Growth &gt; Caution</h2>It's an age-old tale unfolding yet again in India’s banking sector- Icarus flew too close to the sun and eventually, fell to its death. Between April and June 2024, NBFCs microfinance portfolio jumped by 2.7%. If you see this in terms of loan sources, microfinance loans issued by banks grew by 11.2% in Q1FY25. But the same portfolio in NBFCs swelled by almost double-23.9%. While most of these loans had an average ticket size between Rs 30,000-50,000, there was a sharp spike in the number of loans that had a ticket size of Rs 80,000 or more. Data suggests that as of March 2024, more than 12% of all microfinance borrowers had over 4 or more active loans. In dating parlance, this is a classic case of borrowers going polyamorous, minus the honesty and transparency. Not the best of situations, you'd agree! <h2>Will banks and NBFCs stand up to this stress?</h2>If their results for Q2FY25 are to be believed, NBFCs are not handling the pressure all that well. Or even slightly well. Only a few banks like Bank of Baroda (BoB), ICICI, and Indian Bank were up for the battle, even witnessing a decline in their loan delinquencies. Some others, like IndusInd Bank, saw their stock dip by a massive 16.2% over the last 5 days. Its slippages in the previous quarter burgeoned from Rs 15.3 billion in Q1FY25 to Rs 17.9 billion in Q2. As a result, the bank pushed a staggeringly high amount of money to create an NPA cushion for itself. While its management has highlighted its preference for secured lending, that was hardly reflected in its actions during the quarter, where growth in unsecured personal loans remained exceptionally high at over 7% on a QoQ basis. Turns out, only 44% of customers in IndusInd Banks’ microfinance loan portfolio were exclusive to it. The rest 47% were, you guessed it right-polyamorous! 27% had borrowed from another lender as well, apart from IndusInd Bank, while 20% were those who had outstanding loans with two other lenders, apart from IndusInd Bank. IndusInd Bank’s credit card segment did not miss the NPA bus and accounted for 7-8% of its GNPAs. Canara Bank’s total slippages during the previous quarter jumped to Rs 11.1 billion, up by 24.7% QoQ, and making up for 3.6% of its total loans. As for Bandhan Bank, its <keyword id="763994" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gross-NPA" source="Orion">gross NPA</keyword> for Q2FY25 inched up on a QoQ basis, up from 4.23% in Q1, to 4.68% in the second quarter. <keyword id="62152" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IDFC-bank" source="Orion">IDFC Bank</keyword>’s heavy provisioning for its NPAs marred its profits significantly, causing its PAT (profit after tax) to dip by 73% on a YoY basis. Data from ICRA Analytics suggest that the AUM (asset under management) growth in microfinance loans and unsecured (personal and business) loans by the NBFCs will moderate to 10-12% and 19-21%, respectively, in FY2025 compared to 30% and 38%, in FY2024. Says A M Karthik, Senior Vice President &amp; Co-Group Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, “As bank funds constitute a larger share in the overall funding of NBFCs, a slower credit flow from banks to the NBFCs will compress their AUM growth. The NBFCs in unsecured and digital lending businesses shall face a higher squeeze in funding compared to others, and the unsecured lending space will continue to be a source of stress in the near term.” There has been uninhibited growth in unsecured loans, apart from just the microfinance segment. For instance, Axis Bank’s gross slippages jumped by Rs 4,443 crore, largely thanks to its unsecured business. The same is the case with Yes Bank, which saw 35–40% of its retail slippages emerging from the unsecured loan portfolio. Kotak Mahindra Bank was also quick to follow Yes Bank’s suit, with around 35%-40% of its slippages coming from credit cards. <h2>How is the road ahead?</h2>While RBI has just cracked its whip and served a warning at the moment, experts at Morgan Stanley believe that more changes (read regulatory lashes) are underway. Moreover, with both festive and wedding seasons underway in our country, unsecured lending might pick up momentum, much to the disdain of the calibrated approach banks have been taking towards it so far. But if the situation doesn't improve, RBI will not waste any time in becoming the typical tyrannical Bollywood headmaster who runs his dominion with an iron fist and takes things (and ceiling rates) into their own hands. However, that's a story for another day.

Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Welcome back! A 72-year-old VC investor still runs four marathons a year. He spoke to BI about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/training-tips-for-older-runners-from-72-year-old-marathoner-2024-10">how he fits the training into his busy schedule</a> as he tries to run 100 marathons before he turns 100.In today's big story, a final look at the impact a Harris or Trump presidency <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-preview-consumer-outlook-how-trump-harris-housing-taxes-2024-11">will have on your finances</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: A survey exclusively shared with BI shows how a slice of Wall Street <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-election-predictions-professional-investor-survey-2024-11">thinks the election will go</a>.</li><li>Tech: Nvidia is replacing Intel in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-struggles-qualcomm-deal-chip-industry-turmoil-2024-9">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a>.</li><li>Business: We spoke to more than 750 people about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cant-find-job-unemployment-applications-retirement-mba-age-competition-openings-2024-11">their struggles finding a job</a>.</li></ul>But first, let's go over it one more time.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7fa5f018-5b05-4a37-a8dc-d3f89138bcb3">The big story</h3><h2 id="5fd547b9-ec52-41fc-8e08-4f4b27dd8097">The White House and your wallet</h2><div type="image" title="Trump and Harris." height="1743" width="2323" msid="114952573" hostid="261" sizebytes="392138"></div>On the eve of election day, we're offering a final breakdown of how both candidates might affect your wallet.Business Insider ran a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-preview-consumer-outlook-how-trump-harris-housing-taxes-2024-11">five-part refresher series</a> last week examining how the policies proposed by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump impact US consumers.With little middle ground between the two candidates, there are a wide range of implications. Let's get into it:<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/market-impact-presidential-election-scenarios-trump-harris-stocks-bonds-crypto-2024-10">Investing</a>: The corporate tax rate is the major difference between the two sides that'll likely have the biggest impact on markets. Trump's plan to reduce the rate, which stands at 21%, is viewed by most as beneficial for corporate earnings. Harris wants to raise the corporate tax rate, which would likely have the opposite effect.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-expensive-goods-price-impact-presidential-election-scenarios-trump-harris-2024-10">Cost of things</a>: Both candidates are looking to keep leveraging tariffs, but Trump's policy is much more aggressive. His broad-based 10%-to-20% tariff on most imported goods will ultimately make those products more expensive, according to most economists. When it comes to grocery prices, Trump previously said he'd restrict food imports to boost local farmers. Harris wants a federal ban on price gouging, but that'd only be applicable during national emergencies.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-affordability-supply-impact-presidential-election-scenarios-homebuyers-harris-trump-2024-10">Housing</a>: Harris wants to boost construction, with a goal of adding 3 million new housing units during her first term. The former president views his immigration plan — deporting millions of people from the country — as a way to address the housing shortage. Banning mortgages for immigrants living in the US illegally is another way to lower demand, according to Trump.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tax-cut-tariff-plan-outlook-presidential-election-scenarios-harris-trump-2024-10">Taxes</a>: Trump is expected to expand on the tax cuts he established in 2017. The highest earners in the country, those in the top 0.1%, would see a tax reduction of nearly $280,000 whereas middle-income Americans would get a $1,000 break on their taxes, according to one analysis. Harris' proposals will favor lower-income earners, although she's promised to not raise taxes for anyone making below $400,000. She does support a minimum income tax for billionaires.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/childcare-costs-presidential-election-scenarios-parents-paid-leave-harris-trump-2024-10">Childcare</a>: Both candidates have discussed increasing the amount of the child tax credit, which currently provides up to $2,000 per child. Harris has also zeroed in on childcare costs, promising to cap those expenses at no more than 7% of families' income. Neither candidate has suggested funding childcare facilities or boosting hiring, which is a key issue for the industry.<h3 id="77f31a4c-8462-4e3d-a71f-838cb79493fb">News brief</h3><h2 id="1fcd294b-3f53-425f-9f20-4093e8623b59">Top headlines</h2><ul><li>Harris leads Trump by three points in a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harris-trump-iowa-polling-lead-swing-states-2024-11">new poll in GOP-leaning Iowa</a>.</li><li>TGI Friday's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tgi-fridays-files-for-bankruptcy-2024-11">filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy</a>.</li><li>Scoop: Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand Goop <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gwyneth-paltrow-goop-lays-off-employees-pivot-beauty-food-fashion-2024-11">conducted another round of layoffs</a>.</li><li>In an all-hands, Intel CEO addresses employee concerns about <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-chips-act-funding-all-hands-meeting-2024-11">the US election and CHIPS Act funding</a>.</li><li>WATCH: How Elon Musk is reshaping American politics. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-reshaping-american-politics-ahead-of-2024-elections-2024-11">A conversation with Politico and BI</a>.</li><li>How a free meal cost an investor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-free-meal-cost-an-investor-his-retirement-savings-2024-10">his retirement savings</a>.</li><li>The China threat and the EV slowdown — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/auto-industry-faces-trouble-in-china-ev-slowdown-2024-11">2 takeaways from a busy few weeks in auto news</a>.</li><li>Record producer Quincy Jones has <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quincy-jones-dead-obituary-2024-11">died at 91 in his home in Bel Air</a>.</li><li>The US dollar is jittery, and it's not <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/us-dollar-presidential-election-fed-interest-rates-china-npc-stimulus-2024-11">only because of the presidential election</a>.</li><li>The Navy's top ballistic missile interceptor comes with a heavy price tag, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-top-interceptor-missile-heavy-price-tag-low-procurement-2024-10">but the US can't afford to go to war without it</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="8120060b-ae66-48dc-b149-f0489a30ffa2">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="Photo of Wall Street with American flags" height="1333" width="2000" msid="114952577" hostid="261" sizebytes="241826"></div><ol><li>These investors give the slight edge to Trump. A survey of some of SumZero's investor community, which includes small hedge funds and family offices, found 53% believe <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-election-predictions-professional-investor-survey-2024-11">Trump will win the election</a>. That follows other signals the finance world is sending that it views Trump as the favorite, including European stocks trading at a discount due to concerns over tariffs.</li><li>Interest rate cuts are back. The Fed will announce Thursday what it plans to do with rates, with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rate-cuts-federal-reserve-election-jerome-powell-inflation-jobs-2024-11">most traders expecting a 25-basis-point cut</a>. After that, there's one more chance for the Fed to cut rates in December, although JPMorgan's strategy chief said a Trump win <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-win-fed-pause-rate-cuts-easing-jpmorgan-david-kelly-2024-11">could give the central bank pause</a>.</li><li>Wall Street analysts are scratching their heads over Comcast's potential reorg. The company's president suggested it might spin out CNBC and MSNBC into a new firm while retaining NBC and adding a partner to its steamer. On paper the move makes sense, but analysts question how the cable networks could survive by themselves and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-cable-network-spinoff-peacock-partnership-deal-wall-street-analysis-2024-11">who would be willing to team up with Peacock</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="f4b54806-7f81-450c-ba32-92560d4fae9b">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="Jensen Huang" height="3526" width="5289" msid="114952576" hostid="261" sizebytes="532426"></div><ol><li>A monumental swap. S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices announced Nvidia will replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, which looks to project the most relevant picture of the US economy. It shows <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-struggles-qualcomm-deal-chip-industry-turmoil-2024-9">how far Intel has fallen from relevancy</a>, and raises questions about the future role it'll play in computing and AI. BI's Emma Cosgrove explains <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-nvidia-replacing-intel-dow-jones-industrial-average-explained-2024-11">why it's such a big deal</a>.</li><li>Everything we know about the Apple Intelligence rollout. Some of Apple's long-awaited AI features rolled out last week, including a new Siri interface and enhanced Messages. However, other features unveiled at WWDC in June won't be available until 2025. We've got <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-intelligence-features-rollout-timeline-iphone-16-2024-9">an estimated timeline of the rest of the releases</a>, based on what Apple experts and the company have said since WWDC.</li><li>Some Democratic political advertisers are still betting on X. Though Musk's ownership has shifted the platform's political stance, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-political-advertisers-using-elon-musk-x-twitter-2024-11">a small number of Democratic ad campaigns still see opportunity</a>. Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Texas Rep. Colin Allred are among the Democrats still hanging on tight to X.</li></ol><h2 id="9260fa45-d397-4b3c-b4f8-4bb193976216">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Fish with price tags." height="3000" width="4000" msid="114952579" hostid="261" sizebytes="975922"></div><ol><li>Endless options are ruining e-commerce. The allure of online shopping was the ability to compare a variety of options from the comfort of your home. But what happens when there are literally tens of thousands of products to choose from? Information overload, choice paralysis, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/online-shopping-ecommerce-comparison-burnout-too-many-choices-overwhelming-decision-2024-11">extremely frustrated shoppers</a>.</li><li>The great American shoplifting spree. Regular Americans are shoplifting everything from tape measures to blocks of cheese, and they don't feel particularly bad about it. Some of these opportunists view it as a way of fighting back against <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/middle-class-shoplifting-retail-theft-crime-stealing-stores-2024-11">goods that are unjustly expensive</a>.</li><li>The biggest woes of finding work. BI spoke to over 750 people who have struggled to find a job, from older workers just shy of retirement to eager recent graduates. They shared what they're most frustrated with, including fake job postings, competition from AI, and the feeling of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cant-find-job-unemployment-applications-retirement-mba-age-competition-openings-2024-11">being shut out from some careers</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="9f5d80ac-3466-429f-a50a-2ffbb70c65ff">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>Fox Corp, Goodyear, Marriott, and other companies report earnings.</li><li>Boeing's unionized workers vote on a new pay offer.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London.

Here's a final breakdown of how both presidential candidates might affect your finances 

<div type="image" title="The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books." agency="ANI" msid="114778648" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The RBI has cracked the regulatory whip on NBFCs and banks, who&amp;#39;ve been pushing microfinance and unsecured loans aggressively to grow their loan books.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Imagine this. You have a younger sibling you’re mighty envious of. And why not? Unlike you, they seem to enjoy all the freedom and money in the world. They party like there’s no tomorrow, and here you are, stuck in a boring, ultra-disciplined but responsible routine that feels completely devoid of any independence, and mostly, funds. But of late, things are changing. This sibling is in massive trouble and just cannot escape the parent’s wrath anymore. Long story short, the party is over, and it is time to go back home. The rising defaults on this sibling’s part have now begun pulling the entire house down, thereby attracting the regulator’s ire. <h2>The Wild West of <keyword id="113684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microfinance" source="Orion">microfinance</keyword> and unsecured loans</h2>It's hard to ignore the issues with microfinance and unsecured loans in India. Many saw them as a small gamble and ignored the rising defaults much like the younger siblings’ tantrums, and now they find themselves in hot waters. The skyrocketing instances of non-payments aren't a micro-issue anymore and are threatening the stability of the entire banking system. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, 5 of India’s 8 largest private sector <keyword id="19934118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks" source="keywords">banks</keyword> reported a steep rise in their bad loan book, mostly thanks to microfinance loans. Some banks, in a bid to strengthen their fortress against these <keyword id="142154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bad-loans" source="Orion">bad loans</keyword>, have significantly upped their provisions. For instance, IndusInd Bank set aside Rs 525 crore during July and September 2024 to battle the menace of defaults on microfinance loans, which make up about 9% of its total loan book. See, banks rely heavily on their interest income, which they earn from advancing loans. Any loan where the borrower has not paid interest to the bank or defaulted for 90 days or more becomes bad, i.e. an NPA, or non-performing asset for the bank. And who likes things going bad? Simply put, there has been a steep rise in three areas, much to the dislike of banks and MFIs (micro-finance institutions). But hey, it's mostly their doing! <ol><li>GNPA ratio (gross net performing assets): The quantum of non-performing assets a bank has in proportion to its total assets.</li><li>Provision: The amount banks set aside to take care of such NPAs.</li><li>Slippage ratio: The rate at which good girls go bad, or the speed at which good loans turn into NPAs</li></ol>But how are these plaguing the Indian banking sector? And what does the road ahead look like? We decode it for you. <h2> Microfinance: A not-so-micro-menace</h2>Microfinance loans were initially brought forth for low-income households and individuals i.e. for those who might not generally have access to traditional ways of credit, like bank loans and more. They don’t require collateral or an asset to be pledged in lieu of the loan, making it a tad bit easier for borrowers. As of June 2024, the amount of outstanding loans in the microfinance industry stood at a staggering Rs 4,20,256 crore. Of this, NBFC-MFIs accounted for 40% and banks made for 33% of these. In 2022, RBI, in a bid to inspire some competition in this space, did something radical-they did away with the ceiling on how much interest MFIs could charge their customers. Previously, MFIs could add up to 12% to their cost of acquiring funds to determine the final interest rate chargeable to the consumer. So, assuming that Bank A incurs a 5% cost to acquire funds for further loaning, A could charge up to 17% interest from the end consumer. So, interest rates were in the hands of MFIs, and boy, did they have a gala time with it. Instead of spurring some healthy competition, as RBI expected, MFIs and banks went rogue and all guns blazing, competing for the title of “Who will charge the highest interest?” Recently, RBI banned 4 microfinance institutions (MFIs), namely Asirvad Micro Finance Limited, Arohan Financial Services Limited, DMI Finance Private Limited, and <keyword id="20117932" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="navi-finserv" source="keywords">Navi Finserv</keyword> from disbursing loans effective October 21, 2024. Why? Because they were charging 14% extra interest over their original cost of funds. To maintain their loan books (and pockets), banks and NBFCs resorted to shady practices like netting off loans, which RBI has now advised MFIs against. Here, lenders allow borrowers to settle a previous outstanding loan by issuing them a new loan! As crazy as it sounds, it helped banks to report less of their total assets as NPAs, since the new credit would cover pending instalments of the borrower’s previous loan. Then there was the issue of borrowers overleveraging, i.e. taking multiple loans using different IDs from various lenders and then failing to honour any of them. The consequence? Banks and NBFCs end up with massive NPAs. Data from credit bureaus suggests that over the last quarter, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of borrowers who had 5 or more active loans at the same time. <h2>Growth &gt; Caution</h2>It's an age-old tale unfolding yet again in India’s banking sector- Icarus flew too close to the sun and eventually, fell to its death. Between April and June 2024, NBFCs microfinance portfolio jumped by 2.7%. If you see this in terms of loan sources, microfinance loans issued by banks grew by 11.2% in Q1FY25. But the same portfolio in NBFCs swelled by almost double-23.9%. While most of these loans had an average ticket size between Rs 30,000-50,000, there was a sharp spike in the number of loans that had a ticket size of Rs 80,000 or more. Data suggests that as of March 2024, more than 12% of all microfinance borrowers had over 4 or more active loans. In dating parlance, this is a classic case of borrowers going polyamorous, minus the honesty and transparency. Not the best of situations, you'd agree! <h2>Will banks and NBFCs stand up to this stress?</h2>If their results for Q2FY25 are to be believed, NBFCs are not handling the pressure all that well. Or even slightly well. Only a few banks like Bank of Baroda (BoB), ICICI, and Indian Bank were up for the battle, even witnessing a decline in their loan delinquencies. Some others, like IndusInd Bank, saw their stock dip by a massive 16.2% over the last 5 days. Its slippages in the previous quarter burgeoned from Rs 15.3 billion in Q1FY25 to Rs 17.9 billion in Q2. As a result, the bank pushed a staggeringly high amount of money to create an NPA cushion for itself. While its management has highlighted its preference for secured lending, that was hardly reflected in its actions during the quarter, where growth in unsecured personal loans remained exceptionally high at over 7% on a QoQ basis. Turns out, only 44% of customers in IndusInd Banks’ microfinance loan portfolio were exclusive to it. The rest 47% were, you guessed it right-polyamorous! 27% had borrowed from another lender as well, apart from IndusInd Bank, while 20% were those who had outstanding loans with two other lenders, apart from IndusInd Bank. IndusInd Bank’s credit card segment did not miss the NPA bus and accounted for 7-8% of its GNPAs. Canara Bank’s total slippages during the previous quarter jumped to Rs 11.1 billion, up by 24.7% QoQ, and making up for 3.6% of its total loans. As for Bandhan Bank, its gross NPA for Q2FY25 inched up on a QoQ basis, up from 4.23% in Q1, to 4.68% in the second quarter. IDFC Bank’s heavy provisioning for its NPAs marred its profits significantly, causing its PAT (profit after tax) to dip by 73% on a YoY basis. Data from ICRA Analytics suggest that the AUM (asset under management) growth in microfinance loans and unsecured (personal and business) loans by the NBFCs will moderate to 10-12% and 19-21%, respectively, in FY2025 compared to 30% and 38%, in FY2024. Says A M Karthik, Senior Vice President &amp; Co-Group Head, Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA, “As bank funds constitute a larger share in the overall funding of NBFCs, a slower credit flow from banks to the NBFCs will compress their AUM growth. The NBFCs in unsecured and digital lending businesses shall face a higher squeeze in funding compared to others, and the unsecured lending space will continue to be a source of stress in the near term.” There has been uninhibited growth in <keyword id="6051027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unsecured-loan" source="Orion">unsecured loan</keyword>s, apart from just the microfinance segment. For instance, Axis Bank’s gross slippages jumped by Rs 4,443 crore, largely thanks to its unsecured business. The same is the case with Yes Bank, which saw 35–40% of its retail slippages emerging from the unsecured loan portfolio. <keyword id="6376194" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kotak-mahindra" source="Orion">Kotak Mahindra</keyword> Bank was also quick to follow Yes Bank’s suit, with around 35%-40% of its slippages coming from credit cards. <h2>How is the road ahead?</h2>While RBI has just cracked its whip and served a warning at the moment, experts at Morgan Stanley believe that more changes (read regulatory lashes) are underway. Moreover, with both festive and wedding seasons underway in our country, unsecured lending might pick up momentum, much to the disdain of the calibrated approach banks have been taking towards it so far. But if the situation doesn't improve, RBI will not waste any time in becoming the typical tyrannical <keyword id="19897820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bollywood" source="keywords">Bollywood</keyword> headmaster who runs his dominion with an iron fist. However, that's a story for another day. Do you have a topic in mind you'd want a simpler explanation for, or insights or personal experience to share on personal finance and more? Contact us at businessinsider@timesinternet.in.

Simply Put: Is the lending party over? The dangerous tango of Indian banks with microfinance and unsecured loans

New Delhi, Indian-Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-backed <keyword id="20847043" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fairfax-india" source="keywords">Fairfax India</keyword> on Wednesday announced its commitment to provide up to USD 200 million (about Rs 1,650 crore) liquidity support to IIFL Finance after the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> barred the non-bank lender to disburse gold loans. The RBI's embargo has raised liquidity concerns among the company's investors and lenders, Fairfax India Holdings Corporation said in a statement. In response to these concerns, Fairfax India has agreed to extend up to USD 200 million of liquidity support on terms to be mutually agreed and subject to applicable laws, including regulatory approvals (if any), it added. "We have been long-term investors in the IIFL group of companies and have full trust and confidence in the company's strong management team led by Nirmal Jain and R Venkataraman. We are confident that Nirmal and Venkat will take corrective actions to meet and exceed RBI's compliance standards," said Fairfax India chairman <keyword id="20146567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prem-watsa" source="keywords">Prem Watsa</keyword>. Commenting on the development, IIFL Finance Managing Director Nirmal Jain said at this crucial juncture, Fairfax India's and Prem's generous offer to provide liquidity support is very timely and motivating. "We are committed to complying fully with RBI's directives and growing the business under the regulator's guidance on the strong foundation of compliance, risk management, and fair practices," Jain said. Earlier this week, the <keyword id="19922074" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank" source="keywords">Reserve Bank</keyword> barred <keyword id="20849308" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iifl-finance-ltd" source="keywords">IIFL Finance Ltd</keyword> from disbursing gold loans, with immediate effect following multiple supervisory concerns, including serious deviations in assaying and certifying the purity of the yellow metal. IIFL Finance offers a range of loans and mortgages. The latest directions from the RBI pertain to only the gold loan business. The RBI in a statement had said certain material supervisory concerns were observed in the gold loan portfolio of the company. The concerns include serious deviations in assaying and certifying purity and net weight of the gold at the time of sanction of loans and at the time of auction upon default; breaches in loan-to-value ratio; significant disbursal and collection of the loan amount in cash far in excess of the statutory limit; non-adherence to the standard auction process; and lack of transparency in charges being levied to customer accounts.

Prem Watsa-backed Fairfax India commits up to $200 mn to IIFL Finance

<div type="image" title="Are Indians depositing less money in banks, or more in mutual funds? Turns out, it&amp;#39;s neither of those." msid="113663806" hostid="261" sizebytes="1121785"></div> Over the past few months, there’s been a lot of brouhaha about the lagging pace of <keyword id="20202062" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bank-deposits" source="keywords">bank deposits</keyword> in India. Simply put, the rate at which Indians are depositing their hard-earned money in banks has been falling constantly, and some blame the increasing financialisation of <keyword id="20751315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="household-savings" source="keywords">household savings</keyword> in the country or the rising preference of Indians towards <keyword id="19929240" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-funds" source="keywords">mutual funds</keyword> and shares. So, the hypothesis is that people are choosing to invest more in mutual funds and the Indian <keyword id="19949641" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="equity-markets" source="keywords">equity markets</keyword> through direct investments, IPOs, or NFOs, the money flowing into Indian banks in the form of deposits is slowing down. But is that really the case? <h2>A crisis or a phase?</h2><keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="RBI" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="RBI">RBI</keyword> data suggested that for the quarter ended June 2024, bank deposits grew at 11.7%. On the other hand, credit growth has outpaced this at 15%. This means that the outflow from banks as loans is far greater than the inflow into them in the form of deposits in Q1 of FY 2024-25. The situation largely saw cut-copy-paste in the first week of September as well, with loans registering a 13.3% YoY growth during the period, while deposits rose only 11.1%. This gap has only been widening for the last 3 years. Since deposits are how banks gather assets to further lend and earn interest income as a consequence, even a slight dip could set the alarm bells ringing for banks, and rightfully so. And truth be told, mutual funds are indeed taking on bank deposits in a big way. Per a report by Franklin Templeton, in August 2024, the AUM (assets under management) of Indian mutual funds, or the total funds managed by them, stood at 31.3% of total bank deposits in the country, up from 24.20% during the year-ago period. As of August 2024, the AUM of mutual funds stood at Rs 66.17 lakh crore, an all-time high. But all said and done, is this really the reason why the rate of bank deposits is falling behind? SBI has dismissed this to be a “statistical myth”, and experts point out that since equity and fund houses also keep the cash in their respective bank accounts, there’s no cause for concern. So, is financialization really to be blamed for the trailing tempo of deposits? Or is something else happening behind the scenes? We take a closer look: <h2>First, are household deposits really slowing down? And is that a cause of concern?</h2>Data from Motilal Oswal suggests the contrary. Deposits grew by around 10.4% between March 2020 and August 2024. Data from RBI also highlights that as of August 9, 2024, bank deposits witnessed a YoY growth of 10.8%. The loan-to-deposit ratio for the retail segment, which indicates what percentage of its total deposits the banks lend out as loans, has stayed at 77.5%, above the 77% mark for the tenth straight month. <div type="image" title="Yes, household deposits (as % of total deposits) have dipped, but the drop is far from significant" msid="113663882" hostid="261" sizebytes="306706"></div> Also, we can’t forego the fact that the share of Indian households in bank deposits has indeed slowed down. However, data from Axis AMC shows that the dip is marginal—from 63% in 2022 to 62% in 2023 and 61% in 2024. What has slowed down even more considerably is the share of government deposits in the aggregate bank deposits, which has dipped from 14% in 2018 to 9% in 2024. So, it's not just household deposits, you see. Moreover, as of March 2024, the collective CASA ratio (current and <keyword id="114757" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="savings-account" source="Orion">savings account</keyword> deposits) of all commercial banks in India stood at 41.00%, down from 43.1% in March 2023 and 45.2% in March 2022, marking a nearly 5% point decline over the past year, while still staying over the 10-year average of 39.2%. This implies that Indian banks are relying more on higher-cost funds (savings accounts), which can limit their profitability. <h2>What is this financialisation of savings we are talking about?</h2>Then again, there is no doubt about the growing affinity of Indians towards mutual funds and stock markets. Recent data from CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) highlights that India’s net direct tax collection surged by around 22%, driven exclusively by the significant uptick in the collection of Securities Transaction Tax (STT), which doubled to Rs 26,154 crore, from Rs 13,352 crore in the year-ago period. Why does this matter? STT is levied when you buy or sell equity shares on stock exchanges, sell <keyword id="6361918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="equity-mutual-funds" source="Orion">equity mutual funds</keyword>, and trade in futures and options in the equity segment. Such taxes, including the multiple other taxes in equity market investments, are considered as leakages as the money moves out of the economy into government coffers. Data from a ValueQuest report explains that over the last 20 years, the markets have handsomely rewarded the investors, generating over $900 billion in incremental value for them. This is the major driver behind the dramatic rise in investment flowing towards the equity markets. There’s further proof of this budding romance, if you check the demat pudding. The number of demat accounts, which are a primary requisite for participating in the stock markets, also burgeoned by 42.3 lakh in August 2024, taking India’s total tally of demat accounts beyond 17 crore. To put this in perspective, this is almost equivalent to the population of just 8 nations in the world, including China, the US, Brazil and more. Vivek Iyer, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat thinks it's rather important, as well. “Financialisation of household savings in India is an indication of deepening capital markets in the market, especially from a retail investor standpoint. Bank deposits with a modest rate of return are no longer the only option for savings for investors. Investors today have more avenues for wealth creation in the form of public capital markets, which have democratized wealth creation and provided equality of opportunity to retail investors”, he says. Yes, Indians are investing more and more in the markets, and in mutual funds. But is it a sin to look out for inflation-beating returns, which the stock markets offer, and vanilla bank deposits don't? After all, the allure of 12-13% annual returns offered by <keyword id="45369" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="equities" source="Orion">equities</keyword> can certainly pale the stability offered by good old deposits, which generally do not go beyond 9% when it comes to annual returns. But all of this is not what is behind the slowdown. India is still a toddler in the school of savings financialization, with less than 10% of the population holding a demat account, and less than 5% of us saving in equities. That's a drop in the ocean of deposits, far inadequate to trigger a tsunami. <h2>Tell me why lagging deposits have nothing to do with Indians investing more in mutual funds!</h2>Says Shweta Rajani, Head - Mutual Funds, Anand Rathi Wealth Limited, “Households' equity holdings composition grew from 11.1% in FY 23 to 14.7% in FY 24. This trend reflects a growing awareness of investment options, empowering individuals to take control of their financial futures. Despite this transition towards equities, banks still hold a significant share of household financial savings—33.5% in FY24 compared to 34.9% in FY23”. Also, household savings and their subsequent financialization do not have much to do with deposit creation, which is entirely made by banks. What actually drives increased deposits is credit growth or increased lending. When interest rates are eased, people tend to borrow more and spend more, which circulates more money in the economy. For the past 4 years, RBI has been tightening the screws on interest rates, which raises the cost of borrowings, and makes it more expensive to take loans, putting a dampener on credit growth, but effectively curbing inflationary pressures. The last time RBI cut the repo rate by 40 basis points was back in May 2020, 4 years ago. The lag in <keyword id="19998084" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="deposit-growth" source="keywords">deposit growth</keyword> we’re witnessing is almost 3 years old. Coincidence much, or just good old economics at work? But with the Fed recently setting a rate cut precedent by slashing 50 bps off its interest rate, RBI is expected to follow suit in the next MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) meeting, scheduled for November 2024. A rate cut would ease the aforementioned high cost of borrowing, and increase loan-taking for corporates and institutional investors, thereby stoking consumption in the economy. And then, deposit creation in banks is likely to return to its former glory. If not, then that would be a curious case to unravel! But that worry is for another day. Do you have insights or personal experience to share on your personal finances or money? Contact us at <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="mailto:businessinsider@timesinternet.in">businessinsider@timesinternet.in</a>.

Simply Put: A Deposit Dilemma — What's the fuss about a crisis in Indian bank deposits? Are mutual fund investments to blame?

<ul><li>Corporate loan growth originations grew in lower single digits in FY23.</li><li>Investment announcements in 2023 were at their lowest since 2018, excluding 2020.</li><li>Auto, home and other consumption loans saw sharp growth, led by <keyword id="20026653" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="personal" source="keywords">personal</keyword> loans. </li></ul>Large corporates are still not driving India’s credit growth as private capital expenditure is yet to pick up pace. While consumption, MSME and microfinance loans’ originations volume grew in double digits between FY22 and FY23, corporate loan growth was at a mere 2.4%, as per <keyword id="19994500" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crif" source="keywords">CRIF</keyword> High Mark’s report on ‘How India Lends’. Investments by companies have remained in the slow lane even in FY24, according to a report by <keyword id="19920717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bank-of-baroda" source="keywords">Bank of Baroda</keyword>. In the first three quarters of FY24, investments to the tune of ₹10.80 lakh crore were announced. Most of these announcements were dominated by airlines, power, chemicals and machinery. Bank of Baroda in a report said that 2023’s investment announcements, most of which might not materialize, are at the lowest since 2018. That however excludes 2020, when Covid-19 induced lockdown was in-effect. “Data on new investment announcements do indicate that industry in general is still in a wait and watch mode. One factor holding back investment could be excess capacity in several sectors. <keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="keywords">RBI</keyword> data for June shows the average at 73.6%,” said economists at Bank of Baroda. Apart from this, uncertainty due to the elections could have played a role in companies being tight fisted. “The third factor could be high interest rates and the expectation of repo rate cuts next year in the second quarter of the fiscal,” the economists added. The consumption loan boom On the other hand, consumption loans that include home loans, auto loans, personal loans etc, grew the fastest at 37.7% in FY23. Within consumption, personal loans saw the sharpes growth, followed by consumer durable loans. Public and private sector banks give a large chunk of home loans. “There is a 22% increase in average ticket size (ATS) from ₹20.2 lakh in FY20 to ₹24.7 lakh in FY23. There has been a shift in originations by both value and volume seen from ticket size ₹5-35 lakh to ₹35-75 lakh,” said CRIF. Housing finance companies and PSU banks lead ticket size bands under ₹75L, while private banks lead the over ₹75 lakh ticket size loan market. Loan origination growth (FY22 to FY23) <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Consumption Loan Type </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Portfolio size </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Origination value growth </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Origination volume growth </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Home Loans </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹30.7 lakh crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">18.1% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13.1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Personal Loans </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹10.9 lakh crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">35.2% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">50.7% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Two-Wheeler Loans </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1.1 lakh crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">50.3% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">35.3% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Auto Loans </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹5.9 lakh crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">37.6% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">21.1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Consumer Durable Loans </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹0.5 lakh crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">32.8% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">37.5% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: CRIF *Portfolio as of June 2023 Fintechs lead personal loan growth Personal loans are dominated by public sector banks and private banks by value; and NBFCs by volume. Loan originations grew twice over in both value and volume from FY20 to FY23. “Fintechs lead the growth in small ticket and small tenor loans. Their share in originations volume for ticket size under-₹25,000 loans went up to 75% in FY23 from 67% in FY20,” said CRIF. MSME and microfinance loan originations volume grew 20.8% and 16.6% respectively, as per the CRIF report. "MSME lending experienced substantial percentage growth in originations by value, with the micro segment being the largest contributor. These trends, combined with an encouraging improvement in delinquencies, thus, reflect the resilience of the Indian economy,” said <keyword id="20372020" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanjeet-dawar" source="keywords">Sanjeet Dawar</keyword>, MD of CRIF High Mark.

India’s corporates in ‘wait and watch’ mode as consumption loans zoom

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Shannon St. Val pivoted from her job in finance to pursue a career in real estate.</li><li>She is now the founder and owner of a short-term vacation-rental company.</li></ul>Shannon St. Val is the founder and owner of <a target="_blank" href="https://ep-mg.com/">Elevate Vacation Rentals</a>, a short-term vacation-rental company based in New York. She left her job in finance to manage short-term rental properties and shares how she started, how she makes money, and the challenges of the industry.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shannon St. Val. It has been edited for length and clarity.My career in property management hasn't been a straight path. My degrees are in finance and real estate, and I graduated in 2008 when the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/office-commercial-real-estate-cre-crash-2008-gfc-delinquency-vacancy-2024-3">subprime meltdown</a> happened. I thought I would be working in commercial real estate, but then all the real-estate jobs disappeared and I started working in finance.I worked at Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, or KPMG, on the consulting side, specializing in financial operations for big banks and broker-dealers, specifically for investment-management firms.I knew I didn't want to work in finance for too long because the culture was intense. In 2016, I left my job to be my own boss. I took many of my finance and consulting skills and founded my own short-term property management company.At first, I started managing a few properties for myself, and then when COVID happened, I had to pivot and expand. I decided to take on clients outside New York instead of just managing my own. It's been my dream to return to real estate with property management.<h2 id="f5bbe9fe-75d5-46bf-9651-eee295b6fd7e">How I find clients</h2>A lot of my early clients came through word of mouth. I had friends, particularly people I met in the finance industry, who had houses in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marthas-vineyard-ferry-review-new-england-2024-7">Martha's Vineyard</a> or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamptons-hot-spots-visitors-buyers-from-real-estate-agent-2024-6">the Hamptons</a> and would ask, "Hey, you're managing properties. I have a house. Can you manage mine?" Some people will advertise on social media, but I've gotten my business through <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/small-business-founders-explain-grow-your-company-referrals-2023-10">referrals</a>. If you do good business, people will refer you to their network.Some property managers who are just starting have found success in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cold-email-formula-that-landed-me-response-from-meta-executive-2024-5">cold pitching</a>. This means reaching out to short-term rental owners and saying, "I know you may have a manager, but I'm willing to work for a lower rate for the first year." Then, if you meet their expectations, you can increase the rate.Some companies can do outbound emails or outbound marketing for you, where you blast local owners or anyone who recently bought a new house in that particular vacation-rental area, advertising your services.<h2 id="25cfe19f-2fc1-49c4-8eee-5946221a2bc7">How I earn a living from property management</h2>There are two ways to earn money from managing short-term properties. The first is by working with vacation-rental owners and charging a commission on the nightly rate. I've seen commissions as low as 10% and as high as 30%, but the industry standard is typically 15% to 20%.I also manage a building. It's a master lease, which means I pay a flat rate and collect rent from each unit as a short-term vacation rental. Some homeowners just want their flat-rate rent and don't want to be involved, so I'll do a short-term rental. You have to be a little more sophisticated in this because if you don't budget and know your expected revenue, you could misprice it and lose a lot of money. With that model, we want to get at least a 25% to 30% return to provide a buffer in slower months.<h2 id="10437455-20ce-4e54-81a9-64cada1f3402">My typical day</h2>Your typical workday will depend on how many properties you manage. We're managing roughly 30 properties now, so we have a team that handles guest support. I work about eight or nine hours a day, but the job is really 24/7. If there's an emergency, you need to be available.My typical schedule involves a lot of meetings. We always meet with the cleaning team to discuss maintenance and cleaning issues. We go over that once a week with one of the cleaning companies we work with. In the middle of the day, we'll work on pricing reports for owners, update the listings, and read through guest reviews.We also schedule <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/home-inspection">property checks and inspections</a> at least once or twice a month, depending on the property. It requires a lot of coordination, so you'll have to get used to talking on the phone frequently, rather than texting or Slacking messages.<h2 id="6416bf44-fab1-45cc-8b50-23bbf7277ff0">The challenges and rewards of property management</h2>Managing properties is time-consuming, especially if you're doing short-term rentals. You have to have 24-hour guest support, and things like cleaning crews and a maintenance person have to be coordinated for each property. The logistics are significantly harder with vacation-rental management versus standard property management.The most rewarding part of the job is helping my clients or the owners see the untapped value in their homes and helping them earn more money than they would have anticipated. I get thrilled when I double their income. I'm also happy to get a five-star review or feedback that we were super attentive, paid attention to detail, provided great customer service, or resolved an issue quickly.<h2 id="be52c448-f4a1-4953-97a8-8fcbc0d51a77">Advice for transitioning to property management</h2>You have to be very organized, have structured processes, and be good at communicating with multiple stakeholders, including the vendors, owners, and guests. My corporate background helped me a lot because it had so much structure, and I came in with project management and logistical skills. I have a certification through the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pmi.org/">Project Management Institute</a>, but getting a degree or certification is optional.To break into the industry, I recommend working for a vacation-rental company before branching out independently. Use the time to learn some of their best practices before you move on. Check out national companies like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vacasa.com/">Vacasa</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hostgenius.ca/locations/tampa">Host Genius</a>, which usually hire in different markets.You could also work with a smaller company like mine, where you just reach out and say, "Hey, do you have any roles?" There's always something to be done, and management companies are always looking for good help. Another way to break in is to attend a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vrma.org/events/event-calendar">regional or national vacation-rental management conference</a> to network. Find a conference in your area, and you'll meet a lot of managers in one setting.<h2 id="4fabd0d5-be6d-4e5a-ba5d-90ebef4300ff">What I wish I'd known before starting out</h2>Property management can be very rewarding, but I didn't realize how important it was to overcommunicate. I also didn't know how hard managing so many stakeholders would be. For every property, I usually have between four and seven different people involved. I have the owner, the lawn person, the trash person, the regular maintenance person, the cleaner for that house, and then I have my guest support.Sometimes, keeping track of who's who can be overwhelming. So if you want to manage a larger <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financing-strategies-for-real-estate-investing-how-to-scale-portfolio-2024-5">portfolio</a>, you need a really good process and team to keep track of everything. You also have to be extremely organized, provide good customer service, and pay close attention to detail.

How I transitioned from a career in finance to short-term property management

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Eric Sim spent over 20 years in banking, working in Singapore, London, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.</li><li>The engineering major says he had no idea what banking was when he graduated in 1994.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/simeric/">Eric Sim</a>, 54, a former banker turned professional speaker and executive coach. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his education and employment history.When I picked banking as a career, I had very little idea of what the job would actually involve. I'd never even heard of the big names like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — but banking felt novel and challenging to me.My first job out of school was at DBS Bank, where I did corporate foreign exchange sales. I was an engineering graduate and not as savvy as my colleagues, who majored in business administration.After two years, I decided to leave DBS and get my master's in finance at Lancaster University. I wasn't able to secure a job in London, though. I ended up returning to Singapore in the thick of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.As jobs were scarce, I decided to take work in risk management instead. That was when I joined Standard Chartered.I was fortunate to have a good boss. He really believed in me and sent me on secondments to London and Hong Kong. That kickstarted my international career.I later moved on to Citibank in 2001, where I worked on global markets. In 2005, I saw that China was liberalizing its financial sector, so I asked my boss to post me to China, and I spent two years there.Working in China was eye-opening. Compared to a small country like Singapore, there were lots more industries, such as mining and shipping, to cover.I then relocated to Hong Kong and switched my focus to investment banking and Asia-centric transactions. That paved the way for me to join UBS as a managing director.<h2 id="6126e89b-83ba-409f-829f-7c6830f6f066">I can play the game, but I don't enjoy the game</h2><div type="image" title="Eric Sim giving a lecture to students." height="768" width="1024" msid="115431925" hostid="261" sizebytes="84092"></div>To be honest, I've always thought of leaving banking. Back in 2005, I thought of returning to college to study architecture. I applied for a spot and got accepted into the program after passing a test.But I decided against it. If I went back to school, I would have to study for five years and accrue two years of practical experience before I could qualify as an architect.That was a huge opportunity cost for me, as I could have made up to a million dollars if I had stayed with banking during the same period. I was in my mid-thirties then, and I still had to pay my mortgage. It didn't make financial sense to leave banking then.That said, I also recognized that while I could play the game, I didn't enjoy it. For most people who go into banking, the norm is to work as much as you can and retire when you're 60.However, that leaves you with very limited choices in life. Your health may deteriorate, and you won't be able to travel as much.So after spending over 20 years in banking, I left UBS in 2017.At that point, my health was still good, and I had sufficient savings. That meant that I could pursue the things I liked, and start a new career in professional speaking and executive coaching.In this phase of my life, I'm now focusing on satisfaction, meaning, and fulfillment. Through my work as a speaker and lecturer, I have been able to share my know-how in banking and career planning with more people.<h2 id="cd01a843-0073-4c6f-b1d9-e32d59c1e82f">It is a lot harder to make it in banking these days</h2><div type="image" title="Eric Sim standing in front of the London Bridge." height="768" width="1024" msid="115431926" hostid="261" sizebytes="39050"></div>Banking is really just a sales job. It is about knowing what your customer wants and then building a relationship. You want to be the first person the client calls when they have a problem.But succeeding in banking is a lot harder these days. In the past, there was less competition and less regulation within the sector. It was easier for the banks to make money.Things are different now. After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, a lot more people now know how much money bankers can make. There is a lot more competition for banking jobs.But even if I could turn the clock back, I would still pick banking as a career. Banking is an excellent industry for self-development.My advice to young professionals is to seek out job opportunities that allow them to learn. That has been my career principle and it has served me well.

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