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<ul><li>The private sector lender saw credit card spends more than double in August, compared to a 40% growth seen by SBI.</li><li>ICICI Bank has grabbed market share from HDFC Bank that was banned from launching new credit cards until August.</li><li>The ban on Mastercard, which ICICI Bank has less exposure to, also helped in boosting spends ahead of the festive season.</li><li>Check out the latest news and updates on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Business Insider</a>.</li></ul>As fear of a third Covid-19 wave in India eased and festive sales began, ICICI Bank surpassed State Bank of India in credit card spends in August. The private sector lender saw a 127% growth in its credit card spends in August, compared to last year. On the other hand, SBI had to make peace with a much slower growth of 40%, as per the latest <a href="https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/ATMView.aspx">data</a> from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). <div type="image" title="icici bank stock." msid="86808665" hostid="261"></div> There are at least two reasons why ICICI Bank’s credit cards are getting swiped so often now. RBI had <a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachHis/893abfb4-95cb-4942-a555-312aef465ef4.pdf">banned</a> HDFC Bank from issuing credit cards in December last year due to multiple glitches in its digital banking system over the past two years. Even as the curb was lifted in August, it gave an opportunity to other lenders, including ICICI Bank, to grab credit card market share from HDFC Bank. <div type="image" title="hdfc bANK STOCK." msid="86808651" hostid="261"></div> “The growth in ICICI Bank credit card spends having surpassed SBI can also be attributed to higher spends per credit card due to quality of customers,” said Parijat Garg, an independent digital lending consultant. "Even as the number of cards issued by SBI and ICICI Bank have been largely similar, clearly ICICI Bank has seen higher credit card spends ahead of the festive season due to a better quality of customers that made higher-value transactions per card, compared to SBI customers,” he said. Among other lenders, IndusInd Bank Ltd. also saw its credit card spends more than double in August compared to last year, while market leader HDFC Bank Ltd. saw a 28% year-on-year increase. Top banks by credit card spends <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">As of Aug. 2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Credit Card Spends (in Rs Crore) </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">YoY increase (in %) </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">MoM increase (in %) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HDFC Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20595 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">28% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15256 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">127% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">State Bank Of India </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14550 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">40% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Axis Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6830 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">69% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">11% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CitiBank India </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3845 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">127% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IndusInd Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3655 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">48% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">11% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">RBL Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3471 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">50% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">American Express </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2505 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">33% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Mahindra Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2039 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">22% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Standard Chartered Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1071 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">41% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">77733 </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">54% </td><td style="border-left:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-right:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;border-top:solid #cccccc 0.75pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: RBI On an overall basis, credit card spends rose 54% to ₹77,733 crore in August, compared to last year. Compared to July, the preceding month, however, the growth seemed tepid as overall credit card spends grew just 4%. The growth was partly due to a low base effect, as lockdown curbs affected mobility during August last year, which saw nearly two million Covid-19 cases and 28,000 virus deaths-- the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53981828">highest monthly tally</a> in the world since the pandemic began. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/triton-model-h-electric-suv-india-live-pictures-leaked/articleshow/86805977.cms">Exclusive: First live pics of Triton Model H electric SUV leaked ahead of next week’s launch</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-network-down-in-india-no-internet-no-calls/articleshow/86802857.cms">#JioDown: Reliance Jio network goes down in certain circles, users report they cannot use internet or make calls</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/byjus-paytm-oyo-and-ola-are-currently-valued-higher-than-ashok-leyland-indian-hotels-and-escorts/articleshow/86782880.cms">India's largest two-wheeler maker, biggest beer brewer and aluminum producer are smaller than startups like Byju's, Paytm, and OYO</a>

ICICI Bank leaves SBI behind in credit card spends as it chases HDFC Bank in pole position

One of the highly popular banks in India and among the largest banks of the country, <keyword id="6357149" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-bank">HDFC bank</keyword> provides a wide range of financial and banking services to individuals, institutions and businesses. If you have a HDFC bank account, you can check the account balance through a number of ways. The bank invests in the latest technology and provides a long list of easy and quick options for its customers to choose from. Here are the different methods and apps HDFC bank customers use to check account balance information and other banking transactions. <keyword id="8765535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-missed-call-method">HDFC Missed call method</keyword> For knowing your HDFC bank account balance information, give a missed call to the toll free number 1800-270-3333. To get the mini statement, you can give a missed call to yet another toll free number 1800-270-3355. To avail of this service, it is necessary that the mobile number on which you make the missed call is registered with the bank and linked to your account. When you give a missed call on these dedicated numbers, your call will be disconnected and then you will receive an SMS on the registered mobile number which will give you the details of account balance. Account balance information via SMS You can also get your HDFC bank account balance information via SMS route. To do this, send an SMS to the number 5676712. You must type in the message as REGISTER &lt;Customer ID&gt; &lt;Last 5 Digits of A/c No.&gt; Once you send the SMS, you will get an instant message with the details of your HDFC account balance information. For getting mini statement, you need to send the message “TXN” to the number 5676712. For cheque status enquiry, you need to type “CST&lt;6 digit cheque number&gt;” to the number 5676712. Internet banking To know the account balance and do some banking transactions, you can also resort to the net banking method. Once you apply for net banking services, you will receive can User Name and Password. Log into the net banking site of the HDFC bank using these credentials and you will be able to know your account balance and also perform a number of banking activities on the site. Mobile banking You can also check your account balance and also carry out some banking transactions on the <keyword id="7089588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-mobile-banking">HDFC mobile banking</keyword> app. Download the HDFC mobile banking app on Google Play or Apple App store. This facility provides you the most convenient and quick way to do a number of banking activities on the move with your mobile phone and you will never have to go to the bank for these activities. Calling the balance check number (Enquiry Number) HDFC bank customers can also check the balance by calling the number 022-61606161. You will be prompted to select a language and follow the IVR instructions. ATM method HDFC bank account holders can also use the ATM of the bank or any other bank’s ATM to know the account balance and also carry out some banking transactions. Insert your HDFC debit card in the ATM slot. Follow the instructions and input your four-digit PIN number. Select the ‘Check Account Balance’ option to get your balance information displayed on the screen. You can also take a print of your HDFC account balance information. See Also : <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/article/steps-to-check-canara-bank-account-balance/articleshow/74075522.cms">How to check account balance in Canara Bank</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/steps-to-check-account-balance-in-sbi/articleshow/69607243.cms">How to check account balance in SBI </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/how-to-check-account-balance-in-bank-of-baroda/articleshow/74119351.cms">how to check account balance in bank of Baroda</a>

How to check account balance in HDFC bank (Enquire Number)

<ul><li><keyword id="11148714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Crypto-Regulations">Crypto regulations</keyword> in India have been unclear, to say the least, but a concrete direction is expected later this year.</li><li>An RBI circular from 2018 was struck down by the country’s Supreme Court in March last year.</li><li>India has been working on a “calibrated” approach towards crypto, its finance minister had said.</li></ul>India’s <keyword id="6357149" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-bank">HDFC Bank</keyword> retracted an email sent to customers late last week, which warned them about dealing in <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">cryptocurrency</a> transactions. The company had sent an email over the last weekend, which cited a 2018 order from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — the country’s central bank — to essentially say that cryptocurrency transactions are illegal in India. However, the central bank later clarified, on May 31, that the 2018 circular had been struck down by the Supreme Court of India (SC) and can’t be cited. “As such, in view of the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the circular is no longer valid from the date of the Supreme Court judgement, and therefore cannot be cited or quoted from,” the RBI had said in its <a href="https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/45VIRTUALCURRENCIES37FE644EF97F4A36AAB951C73A411E96.PDF">circular</a>. Post this clarification coming in from the RBI, HDFC Bank has sent fresh emails to its customers asking them to ignore the earlier cautionary note. “We wish to update you that in the light of the advisory issued by RBI…dated May 31, 2021, on ‘Customer Due Diligence for transactions in Virtual Currencies’, we request you to ignore our earlier communication dated May 28, 2021,” according to the email. “Inconvenience caused is regretted,” the new email from HDFC Bank <a href="https://twitter.com/DocumentingBTC/status/1400426099633528836/photo/1">said</a>. <div type="twitter" handle="DocumentingBTC" handlename="Documenting Bitcoin 📄" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1369025687743500288/-4tdBSu5_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2244" retweetcount="446" status="HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, just told its clients to “ignore” their previous warning about ‘Vir… https://t.co/yO0t7Y9DVN" createdat="1622722575000" id="1400426099633528836"></div> The State Bank of India had also sent letters to customers, meant to deter them from dealing in crypto. However, it didn’t cite the 2018 RBI ruling. “The Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly through its public notices cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, regarding various risks associated in dealing with such virtual currencies,” the SBI letter <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/indias-banks-started-withdrawing-services-from-crypto-exchanges-earlier-this-month/articleshow/83109454.cms">said</a>. “RBI has not given any license/authorization to entities regulated by them to operate in cryptocurrency schemes or any form of virtual currencies such as Bitcoins,” the letter added. Where do India’s regulations on crypto stand? India’s cryptocurrency regulations have been unclear, to say the least. The issues began in 2018, when the RBI issued a circular that asked all financial entities regulated by it to stop dealing with crypto companies. This order was struck down by India’s Supreme Court in March last year, which cited proportionality concerns with the order. This led to a period of sustained growth for crypto exchanges in India, especially on the back of bull runs by various cryptocurrencies last year. Exchanges like WazirX have <a href="https://www.livemint.com/market/cryptocurrency/indias-largest-crypto-exchange-crossed-2-billion-in-trading-volumes-in-feb-11614759147828.html">recorded</a> up to $2 billion in total trading value in February this year, but that’s when issues began again. Just ahead of the budget session of India’s Parliament, a listing on the <a href="https://www.livemint.com/market/cryptocurrency/whats-in-store-for-the-country-s-crypto-industry-11616432928274.html">Parliament’s agenda</a> said that a new bill would be proposed during the session. This bill would aim to ban all cryptocurrencies in India, and lay the framework for an RBI-regulated central bank digital currency (CBDC). This led to confusion amongst traders, investors and the overall crypto community, about whether the industry would become illegal in India. The bill wasn’t brought up during the session, but that could have been because the second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country cut the Budget session short this year. But the concerns mounted late last month, when an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/users-not-able-to-deposit-money-on-indian-crypto-exchanges-right-now/articleshow/82831355.cms">informal guidance from the RBI</a> to banks, led lenders to stop dealing with <a href="https://wazirx.com/signup?invite=2kpah6gr&amp;utm_source=business-insider&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=microsite">crypto exchanges</a> and companies again. Exchanges had to stop taking rupee deposits from users, almost overnight, and haven’t been able to restore services since. However, regulations still remain unclear. There is no order, law or notice in India that makes dealing in cryptocurrency illegal. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has <a href="https://www.livemint.com/market/cryptocurrency/fms-push-for-calibrated-approach-on-crypto-trading-calms-frayed-nerves-11615112421872.html">said</a> that the government is considering a “calibrated” approach to cryptocurrencies in India, and a clearer direction is expected later this year. The crypto industry has also been working on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/wazirx-zebpay-crypto-and-others-are-setting-up-their-own-self-regulation-board-in-india/articleshow/83203195.cms">self regulating</a> under industry body IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India). The Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), which has been set up under the IAMAI, had welcome the RBI’s clarification earlier this week, and said it has set up a self-regulatory code of conduct for its members, which includes top exchanges like WazirX and CoinDCX. “It is well known that with 15 million users and upwards of 10,000 crores held by small investors, India is among the top players globally in the crypto market and for the welfare of the users it is very important that crypto assets are regulated,” the council said on June 1. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/gdp-growth-projection-revised-by-rbi-to-9-5-leaves-rates-unchanged/articleshow/83226348.cms">RBI leaves rates unchanged as it lowers GDP growth projection to 9.5%, targets 5.1% inflation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-app-is-adding-a-new-feature-to-help-you-replace-snapchat-completely/articleshow/83226216.cms">WhatsApp rips off another Snapchat feature — this time Disappearing Mode</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-camera-app-is-expected-to-receive-an-update-that-lets-you-capture-the-night-sky-in-motion/articleshow/83228479.cms">Google Camera update might add the ability to capture the night sky in time-lapse</a>

HDFC Bank withdraws letter on crypto transactions after RBI clarifies that its 2018 circular is no longer valid

<ul><li>The HDFC Bank lost over $2 billion in market value after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked it to stop all launches of its upcoming digital business-generating activities temporarily.</li><li>The share price of private-sector lenders cracked nearly 2% during the afternoon session after trading in the green for almost two hours. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider.</a> </li></ul>India’s second most valued listed company, HDFC Bank lost over $2 billion in market value after the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbi-directs-hdfc-bank-to-suspend-its-digital-business-and-new-credit-cards-amid-rising-incidents-of-outages/articleshow/79542055.cms">Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked it to temporarily stop all launches </a>of its upcoming digital business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers. The share price of private-sector lenders cracked over 2% during the afternoon session after trading in the green for almost two hours. The crack in its shares also brought the Indian benchmark index down from 300 points higher to 30 points higher. <div type="image" title="HDFC Bank" msid="79545706" hostid="261"></div> The RBI decision came after the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/hdfc-banks-net-banking-upi-services-and-atms-down-due-to-data-centre-outage/articleshow/79344484.cms">recent outage</a> at its data centre, which impacted operations last month. It is noteworthy that among all the lenders, HDFC is the largest credit card seller in the country. “RBI has issued an order dated December 2, to HDFC Bank Ltd with regard to certain incidents of outages in the internet banking/ mobile banking/ payment utilities of the bank over the past two years, including the recent outages in the bank’s internet banking and payment system on November 21, 2020, due to a power failure in the primary data centre,” the bank said in a regulatory filing. According to the bank the <a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/893abfb4-95cb-4942-a555-312aef465ef4.pdf">RBI order</a> “has advised the bank to temporarily stop all launches of the digital business-generating activities planned under its program Digital 2.0 and other proposed business generating IT applications and sourcing of new credit card customers”. In addition, the order has directed the bank board to examine the lapses and fixes accountability. The lender said the above measures should be considered for lifting upon satisfactory compliance with the major critical observations as identified by the RBI. HDFC Bank said “over the last two years, it has taken several measures to fortify its IT systems and will continue to work swiftly to close out the balance and would continue to engage with the regulator in this regard. “The bank has been taking conscious, concrete steps to remedy the recent outages on its digital banking channels and assures its customers that it expects the current supervisory actions will have no impact on its existing credit cards, digital banking channels and existing operations. The bank believes that these measures will not materially impact its overall business,” it added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stock-movers-ril-maruti-indigo-dhfl-spicejet-wipro-future-retail-and-others/articleshow/79541459.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sensex, Nifty hit record high — these are the top movers in trade today </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-may-reportedly-block-wikipedia-if-the-site-doesnt-delete-the-map-showing-aksai-chin-as-a-part-of-china/articleshow/79541391.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India may reportedly block Wikipedia if the site doesn't delete the map showing Aksai Chin as a part of China</a>

HDFC Bank has lost over $2 billion in market value after the RBI crackdown on the lender’s digital business

Cybercriminals are trying to lure Indian users into revealing important personal information with a new report on Monday warning that suspicious messages asking users to submit an application for the disbursement of income tax refund have been doing the rounds, with a link that directs users to a webpage looking like the income tax e-filing web page. The targeted banks in the campaign include the <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>, ICICI, HDFC, <keyword id="6355975" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="axis-bank">Axis Bank</keyword> and <keyword id="62034" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Punjab-National-Bank">Punjab National Bank</keyword>, revealed an investigation by New Delhi-based think tank CyberPeace Foundation along with cybersecurity services firmAutobot Infosec. The suspicious links originate from the US and France, said the report, adding that the campaign is collecting personal as well as banking information from the user and getting into this type of trap could cause a massive financial loss for the users. The shared link with the SMS has no domain name and is not linked with the Indian government. All IP addresses associated with the campaign belong to some third party dedicated cloud hosting providers, said the report. The whole campaign uses plain http protocol instead of the secure https. This means anyone on the network or internet can intercept the traffic and get the confidential information in plain text to misuse against the victim. It asks users to download an application from a third party source instead of Google Playstore. The application asks to provide administrator rights and unnecessary access permissions of the device. On opening the link http://204.44.124[.]160/ITR, users are redirected to a landing page that is mostly similar to the government income tax e-filing website. On clicking the green 'Proceed to the verification steps' button, users are asked to submit personal information such as full name, PAN, Aadhar number, address, pincode, date of birth, mobile number, email address, gender, marital status and banking information like account number, IFSC code, card number, expiry date, CVV/CVC and card PIN. Additionally, the bank name is automatically detected from the IFSC code entered in the form. After submission of data, users are redirected to a page where they are asked to confirm the entered data. Clicking on the green 'confirm' button directs users to a fake banking login page almost similar to the official one. It asks for the username and password for online banking. After these details are entered, for the next step, users are asked to enter a Hint question, Answer, Profile password and CIF number. Once submitted, a mobile verification section with instructions provided to download an android application (.apk file) appears, to complete the ITR verification. Here, users are deliberately instructed to grant all device permissions to the particular application, the investigation revealed. The application, called Certificate.apk, starts downloading upon clicking the green 'Download' link. The overall layout and functionalities of the web page used in the campaign are similar to the official e-filing site to lure laymen, said the report. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/bank-employees-in-india-on-strike-today-and-tomorrow-but-mobile-and-net-banking-services-are-working/articleshow/81505273.cms">Bank employees on strike today and tomorrow — ATMs, net and mobile banking likely to be the only relief</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/indias-personal-data-protection-law-versus-europes-gdpr/articleshow/81504058.cms">Being GDPR compliant doesn't necessarily make companies ready for India's upcoming data protection laws</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/stripe-the-most-valued-startup-in-the-us-to-offer-payment-services-to-indias-merchants-after-its-latest-fundraise/articleshow/81504106.cms">Stripe, the most valued startup in the US, to offer payment services to India’s merchants after its latest fundraise</a>

SBI, ICICI, HDFC, Axis Bank, PNB and the Indian IT department targeted in phishing scam

<ul><li><keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>’s mobile banking services are down yet again. This is the third time its mobile application YONO has been unavailable to its customers in the last 30 days.</li><li>In the past one year, the bank’s digital services have been down at least 25 times with many of the episodes lasting multiple days. </li><li>After the outrage on Twitter, <keyword id="13222" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SBI">SBI</keyword> has acknowledged that its mobile banking service is down due to a ‘system outage’ and it is working on fixing the problem. </li></ul>State Bank of India’s mobile banking services are down, yet again. The bank stated that the mobile banking application, YONO, is down due to a ‘system outage’. <div type="image" title="SBI downdetector" msid="79548930" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Complaints of SBI&amp;#39;s mobile banking not working peaked at around 1:00pm on December 3&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> SBI is instead asking customers to use OnlineSBI or YONO Lite for their banking requirements. <div type="twitter" handle="TheOfficialSBI" handlename="State Bank of India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874974596931371008/R5OJdnqW_normal.jpg" favoritecount="287" retweetcount="27" status="We request our esteemed customers to bear with us as we work towards restoring YONO SBI app to provide for an unint… https://t.co/pFGNcY8IRz" createdat="1606980308000" id="1334398244789526529"></div> The SBI outage comes in the wake of the <keyword id="6354335" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI) asking <keyword id="6357149" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-bank">HDFC Bank</keyword> to explain why it has been suffering from outages over the last two years. Albeit, HDFC Bank’s outage ran across the spectrum, taking down its ATMs, UPI transactions and online banking — SBI’s glitches have occurred a lot more often. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="79542055" title="RBI tells HDFC Bank to stop new digital launches and selling new credit cards after recent outages of online banking" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> HDFC Bank has suffered long outages thrice in the last two years. SBI, on the other hand, has been down at least once every month this year, except for July, according to data on DownDetector. More than half of these episodes lasted longer than 24 hours. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></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;">Month </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;">Frequency of at least one of SBI’s services being unavailable </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;">December </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 </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;">November </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;">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;">October </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;">6 </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;">September </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;">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;">August </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* </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;">July </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;">- </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;">June </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;">2 </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;">May </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 </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;">April </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;">2 </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;">March </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 </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;">February </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;">2 </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;">January </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;">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;">TOTAL: </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;">25 </td></tr></tbody></table>* - SBI’s online services were down from August 4 to August 11 culminating in a seven-day outage. Source: DownDetector Issues range from UPI payments being inoperable to net banking and mobile banking being inaccessible. Last month, the bank justified that technical issues across its platforms were because it was upgrading its internet banking platform, on November 22 and on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheOfficialSBI/status/1325277241094201344">November 8</a>. <div type="twitter" handle="TheOfficialSBI" handlename="State Bank of India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/874974596931371008/R5OJdnqW_normal.jpg" favoritecount="231" retweetcount="14" status="We request our esteemed customers to bear with us as we upgrade our internet banking platform to provide for a bett… https://t.co/ek55QLFcre" createdat="1606019819000" id="1330369663340044289"></div> In October, the bank attributed its glitchy digital services to ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/TheOfficialSBI/status/1315890901198106626">intermittent connectivity issues</a>’. And, so the wheel keeps turning. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-may-reportedly-block-wikipedia-if-the-site-doesnt-delete-the-map-showing-aksai-chin-as-a-part-of-china/articleshow/79541391.cms">India may reportedly block Wikipedia if the site doesn't delete the map showing Aksai Chin as a part of China</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/geo-tagged-bottles-in-the-ganges-river-show-how-plastic-pollution-can-travel-thousands-of-kilometres-in-just-a-few-months/articleshow/79540173.cms">Geo-tagged bottles in the Ganges river show how plastic pollution can travel thousands of kilometres in just a few months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/trump-h1-b-visa-restrictions-scrapped-by-us-court-spells-good-news-for-indian-and-american-it-companies-alike/articleshow/79531053.cms">Trump's H-1B visa restrictions scrapped by US court spells good news for Indian and American IT companies alike</a>

SBI’s mobile banking app is down for the third time in 30 days — digital services take a hit for the 25th time this year

<ul><li>While a lot of brands cut down on their <keyword id="6354839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing" source="Orion">marketing</keyword> budgets during the pandemic, <keyword id="472962" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hdfc-life" source="Orion">HDFC Life</keyword> continued to communicate with its consumers, to maintain its connect with them.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="6204979" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vishal-subharwal" source="Orion">Vishal Subharwal</keyword>, Head-Marketing, Digital Business &amp; E-commerce <keyword id="45123" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC" source="Orion">HDFC</keyword> Life to understand the brand's marketing strategies through the pandemic and what its areas of focus will be going ahead.</li></ul>The experience of the last year and a half has made people more careful about where they invest, how they invest and how much they invest. More and more people, especially the younger population, is keen on researching on financial products, and opening up to investing to secure their futures. During the last 21 months, many sectors cut down on their marketing spends. However, the Banking, financial services and insurance (<keyword id="6356925" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bfsi" source="Orion">BFSI</keyword>) sector put in a lot of money in marketing, because there was an appetite among consumers. The challenge for these brands has been to come up with strong, engaging communications that would help establish trust. We recently spoke to Vishal Subharwal, Head-Marketing, Digital Business &amp; E-commerce HDFC Life to understand their marketing strategies through the pandemic, their recent marketing campaigns and what their future strategies will look like, to build a stronger connect with their audiences. While a lot of brands cut their marketing budgets during the pandemic, HDFC Life invested consistently. It recently came up with a campaign #RetireOnYourTerm. The goal of the campaign was to highlight the importance of timely financial planning to live a comfortable life post-retirement. <div type="Youtube" id="yw73DxHNj5k" title="#RetireOnYourTerms with HDFC Life" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yw73DxHNj5k/mqdefault.jpg"></div> After the pandemic led to a massive consumer behavior change and more and more people became comfortable buying online, HDFC Life came up with a digital campaign, ‘Ye Sahi Toh Life Insurance Online Kyu Nahi?’ earlier in the year starring <keyword id="418016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manjot-singh" source="Orion">Manjot Singh</keyword> to encourage audiences to buy insurance online. <div type="Youtube" id="zM3rDvfx7Pg" title="#YeSahiTohLifeInsuranceOnlineKyuNahi - Shopping For Apparel Online? Buy for insurance online too!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zM3rDvfx7Pg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Speaking about the recent campaign, Subharwal said, “Our retirement campaign was based on the insight that a lot of people were deferring the creation of their retirement corpus because they wanted to spend on other priorities like their children’s education, marriages etc. The entire focus of a lot of Indian households is on getting the children to stand up on their feet, which is a very important element as far as their financial and economic independence is concerned. However, in doing so, they were ending up compromising their own. While there is an intent towards building this retirement corpus, very few people work towards this goal. Through this campaign, we wanted to tell people to start planning for their retirement so that by they could reach financial independence and retire on their own terms. We did not even speak about a particular product in the campaign. People already recognize the brand and the campaign was aimed more at encouraging people to think about their retirement corpus and think of us as a vehicle to make that happen.” The last 1.5 years has been unprecedented, to say the least, and most brands had to recaliberate their marketing strategies. So how did HDFC Life navigate those tough months? “We still stand for our tagline, <keyword id="12838953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sar-utha-ke-jeeyo" source="Orion">Sar Utha ke Jeeyo</keyword>. Fundamentally, not much has changed in the way we communicate with our consumers. What has changed is, we're now trying to become more contemporary and topical,” explained Subharwal. Last year during the pandemic, the brand came up with awareness campaigns talking about the importance of wearing masks. After the second wave stuck, the brand shone the spotlight on good Samaritans helping people with their good deeds. It had then come up with some short Facebook thumbstopper videos. It later also did a campaign where the message was around bouncing back from the pandemic’s impact. The pandemic also led to an increase in the emphasis on digital. With new consumers coming on the internet, and also getting comfortable with online purchases, the campaign earlier in the year was aimed at ensuring the brand is where the consumers are. On what gives the brand an edge over other players in the segment, Subharwal said, “We are able to straddle two segments very well. People see as innovative and ahead of our peers technologically. We are seen as an innovative brand that is investing in the future, investing on good products. Secondly, we have the advantage of being a part of the HDFC group. We therefore have the consumer’s trust, our claim settlement ratio and the way we design our customer service processes, goes into creating a trusted consumer brand. So this ability to manage this duality, of being an innovative insurer at one end and being a trusted financial services player, part of an organization that is usually trusted for its ethics and governance gives us an edge. Most of the competitors will fall in either of these category, we are probably the only player that is able to straddle this balance of trust and innovations in the category.” HDFC Life has done a lot of brand campaigns over the year which has helped build awareness both of its products as well as it as an important player in the segment. But going ahead, what will his broad areas of focus from a marketing perspective be? Subharwal said, “Going ahead, you will see more product-led campaigns from us, in addition to the brand campaigns. Our Sanchay Plus plan is pretty well-known among the distribution ecosystem. Our aim would be to make Sanchay a consumer brand as well. We will try and achieve this through our <keyword id="35666" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising" source="Orion">advertising</keyword>. On the marketing side, we are focusing a lot on consumer experience. We've revamped our website, made it very clean and simple. So whether you're coming to research a product or understand a category, we are there to serve. Similarly, on the CRM side, we're investing on a dynamic CRM solution to improve customer experience. We have invested on the Adobe campaign management tool so that our communication is consistent. We've also moved to a platform that is scalable because we see a lot of demand coming in from consumers and we want the experience to be great. Building on all of this will be our focus going ahead.”

We are probably the only player that straddles the perfect balance of trust and innovations in the category: Vishal Subharwal, HDFC Life

Riding on the rapidly growing number of <keyword id="414255" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-users-in-India">Internet users in India</keyword>, the country’s second largest private sector lender <keyword id="6357149" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-bank">HDFC Bank</keyword> on Friday launched a mobile phone application that will aggregate merchants' applications and allow users to <keyword id="482172" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="transfer-funds">transfer funds</keyword>, shop, pay utility bills, book tickets and recharge phones. This was revealed in an PTI report. 
 While launching the application, <keyword id="6406769" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aditya-Puri">Aditya Puri</keyword>, MD of HDFC Bank, said, "Our investors told us that banking will become obsolete and will be taken over by intermediaries. If they (intermediaries) were to do so sitting over my existing systems, why not have the capabilities myself as part of the digital banking?" 
 This app can be downloaded from the <keyword id="6369511" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Play-Store">Google Play Store</keyword> starting June 15. 
 Unlike prepaid wallets launched by its rivals or <keyword id="2897037" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="non-bank-companies">non-bank companies</keyword>, a customer's debit or credit card will be connected to the application and multiple transactions can be carried out on the same. A customer can transfer funds, <keyword id="2897038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="recharge-mobiles">recharge mobiles</keyword>, <keyword id="3702907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pay-bills">pay bills</keyword>, <keyword id="2897039" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="do-travel-bookings">do travel bookings</keyword>, <keyword id="2897040" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="book-movie-tickets-and-order-food">book movie tickets; and order food</keyword>, <keyword id="2897041" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="grocery-and-music-using-this-app">grocery and music using this app</keyword>. Besides, one can also apply for loans, purchase insurance and can also seek investment advice from the bank via this app. 
 
While making any transactions, the payment amount will be debited directly from the user’s credit or debit card. To ease up the process further, HDFC Bank has done away with the need to key in the one-time password for such transactions. 
 
Parag Rao, HDFC Bank's senior executive vice-president, told PTI, “There are three levels of security, including device mapping and matching of the card number with the registered mobile number, which takes place at the backend to carry out a transaction.” 
 
He further added that the product is fully compliant with RBI's two factor authentication and has also been cleared by the regulator. 
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