All about Netbanking

Netbanking, also known as online banking, e-banking or virtual banking, is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institution's website. The online banking system will typically connect to or be part of the core banking system operated by a bank and is in contrast to branch banking which was the traditional way customers accessed banking services.

To access a financial institution's online banking facility, a customer with internet access will need to register with the institution for the service, and set up a password and other credentials for customer verification. The credentials for online banking is normally not the same as for telephone or mobile banking. Financial institutions now routinely allocate customers numbers, whether or not customers have indicated an intention to access their netbanking facility. Customer numbers are normally not the same as account numbers, because a number of customer accounts can be linked to the one customer number. Technically, the customer number can be linked to any account with the financial institution that the customer controls, though the financial institution may limit the range of accounts that may be accessed to, say, cheque, savings, loan, credit card and similar accounts.

The customer visits the financial institution's secure website, and enters the online banking facility using the customer number and credentials previously set up. The types of financial transactions which a customer may transact through online banking are determined by the financial institution, but usually includes obtaining account balances, a list of the recent transactions, electronic bill payments and funds transfers between a customer's or another's accounts. Most banks also enable a customer to download copies of bank statements, which can be printed at the customer's premises (some banks charge a fee for mailing hard copies of bank statements). Some banks also enable customers to download transactions directly into the customer's accounting software. The facility may also enable the customer to order a cheque book, statements, report loss of credit cards, stop payment on a cheque, advise change of address and other routine actions.

Today, many banks are internet-only institutions.

Due to netbanking A customer can do non-transactional tasks through online banking, which include Viewing account balances, Viewing recent transactions, Downloading bank statements, for example in PDF format, Viewing images of paid cheques, Ordering cheque books, Download periodic account statements, Downloading applications for M-banking, E-banking etc.

• Bank customers can transact banking tasks through netbanking, including – Funds transfers between the customer's linked accounts, Paying third parties, including bill payments (see, e.g., BPAY) and third party fund transfers, Investment purchase or sale

• Loan applications and transactions, such as repayments of enrollments, redit card applications, Register utility billers and make bill payments

Steps to take for a smarter education loan borrowing

With the education field getting more competitive with each passing year, more and more individuals are pursuing the highest most possible education qualification in their respective fields.

However, with this progression comes the financial requirement which can be easily satisfied with an education loan. But like any other loan, you as an applicant will need to be smart about it. Without the right steps and strategy, you may soon find yourself with a debt that can last a lifetime and cripple your finances.

The trick here is to be a smart loan borrower. Here are some steps you can consider:

Step #1 - Borrowing the loan from the right institution: There are several financial institutions that you can consider when it comes to borrowing a loan. On one hand, there are several banks you can consider. On the other, there are several private financial institutes that you can consider. Each of these institutions will offer you a wide variety of benefits. Choosing the bank loan will offer you several benefits for a long term, as you can use the linked bank account to make the fund transfer more convenient, if not more manageable shortly.

Step #2 – Weight your anticipated debt with the anticipated income: At some point in your life, you will decide on the type of career you would want to pursue. Once you have your career in mind, you can easily plan the type of career you want, and the income you would expect or generate. Take, for example, the careers of the MBA, medical, dental or a law student will be easier to plan after graduation. This is an important step, as it will help you plan and take the appropriate loan borrowing decisions. This will include the type of school institute you would want to attend, the approximate income and payments you would need to make and take. As a result, you may choose to attend a school with a low tuition or even borrow less.

Step #3 – Use an education loan calculator: It is better to understand the true cost of your financial decisions so that you do not face any surprises anytime later. This is why it is imperative you get the estimated cost of your education loan before you start the loan application process. You can use the loan calculator to calculate the appropriate amount that will suit you and how much you can actually afford.

Step #4 – Develop a loan repayment programme: Borrowing the appropriate loan is not the end of your journey, although it may be an easy step to take. In fact, as much as the loan is your priority, so should be the repayment. This is a crucial step you will need to take, even before you borrow the loan. With a repayment plan in place, you will know what to expect when the first repayment summons begins and enjoy financial freedom.

All about investments and investment banking

An investment bank is typically a private company that provides various financial-related and other services to individuals, corporations, and governments such as raising financial capital by underwriting or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, and FICC services

Unlike commercial banks and retail banks, investment banks do not take deposits. From the passage of Glass–Steagall Act in 1933 until its repeal in 1999 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, the United States maintained a separation between investment banking and commercial banks. Other industrialized countries, including G7 countries, have historically not maintained such a separation.

The two main lines of business in investment banking are called the sell side and the buy side. The "sell side" involves trading securities for cash or for other securities (e.g. facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (e.g. underwriting, research, etc.). The "buy side" involves the provision of advice to institutions that buy investment services. Private equity funds, mutual funds, life insurance companies, unit trusts, and hedge funds are the most common types of buy-side entities.

Investment banking is split into front office, middle office, and back office activities. While large service investment banks offer all lines of business, both "sell side" and "buy side", smaller sell-side investment firms such as boutique investment banks and small broker-dealers focus on investment banking and sales/trading/research, respectively.

Investment banks offer services to both corporations issuing securities and investors buying securities. For corporations, investment bankers offer information on when and how to place their securities on the open market, an activity very important to an investment bank's reputation. Therefore, investment bankers play a very important role in issuing new security offerings.

Corporate finance is the traditional aspect of investment banks, which involves helping customers raise funds in capital markets and giving advice on mergers and acquisitions (M&A); this may involve subscribing investors to a security issuance, coordinating with bidders, or negotiating with a merger target. A pitch book of financial information is generated to market the bank to a potential M&A client; if the pitch is successful, the bank arranges the deal for the client. The investment banking division (IBD) is generally divided into industry coverage and product coverage groups. Industry coverage groups focus on a specific industry—such as healthcare, public finance (governments), FIG (financial institutions group), industrials, TMT (technology, media, and telecommunication), P&E (power & energy), consumer/retail, food & beverage, corporate defense and governance—and maintain relationships with corporations within the industry to bring in business for the bank. Product coverage groups focus on financial products—such as mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, public finance, asset finance and leasing, structured finance, restructuring, equity, and high-grade debt—and generally work and collaborate with industry groups on the more intricate and specialized needs of a client.

These are the three best credit cards in India

Credit cards become useful in case you do not have the cash with you and you need to make a purchase. You can use your credit card and own what you want to own and pay later. This feature of a credit card does come in handy but at the same time too much usage of a credit card might also and you up in a lot of debt. However there is some cards which have a lot of reward points and other benefits for their usage. Therefore before going in for a credit card it is always useful that you do a proper research and then choose a credit card that suits you and your purpose.

Here are a few of the best credit cards you can get your hands on

1. Standard Chartered Platinum Rewards Card.
2. ICICI Instant Platinum Card.
3. Standard Chartered Manhattan Credit Card.

• Standard chartered platinum rewards card – if in case you are a salaried employee, you have a better chance of approval for this credit card, you can also get additional 1000 reward points if the transaction is done within 60 days. Now travel in Uber because you can avail 20% cashback on your Uber rides, you also get 5 reward points each on every 150/- spent on dining and fuel.

• ICICI Platinum credit cards – it is difficult to get your first credit card in India. However, if you have a fixed deposit or you have a savings bank account with the ICICI bank, ICICI offers you instant credit cards. There is absolutely no annual fee for the credit card. There are 3 payback points for every 100/- spent, the card has a global emergency assistance facility and the card replacement service is also available. You also get 100/- off on movie tickets twice a month. What’s more a 2.5% fuel surcharge  waiver can be gotten on a transaction of Rs 4000 at HPCL pumps.

• Standard chartered Manhattan credit card – This is al al time favourite card where one can spend almost 90% of the expenses and save a lot of money through cash back and reward points. Nowadays it’s more of a trend to spend money on grocery in stores like reliance fresh, Spencer’s or Big Bazar and this card will offer you 5% cashback on all your grocery spends. Rs 999 is the annual fee for the card which you can get waived off. You also get 5x rewards when you use the card to make payment of your hotels, airline ticket reservation and fuel.

Everything about calculating your car loan with a car loan calculator

When one owns a car it becomes very easy for the person to travel from one place to another. Travelling happens to take up half the time of our entire lifespan and with a car things seem to be a lot easier. It becomes very easy to navigate the city and even plan for long drives towards the precincts of the city.

When a person owns a car he or she is no more dependent on the vagaries of the public transport. You no more have to stand in queues for boarding the bus, you no more have to get squeezed I the rush hour in trains and neither do you have to pay extra for cab services. Everyone harbours a dream of owning a car and when this dream becomes a reality life seems to be perfect. It is even better if you have a family.

Sometimes long drives and weekend getaways are dependent on the car rental services and when you own a car yourself, you can drive off to any destination near or far. That is when only your wish comes into play and nothing else. You can then easily plan for your holiday trip.

With easily available car loans, you can now be the proud owner of your dream car in no time. Everything, from the calculating the interest that will be accumulating on the car loan, to the insurance costs and all the other expenses that are even remotely related to buying a car can be conveniently and accurately calculated by the car loan calculator.

There are a number of car loans that are available in the market. You can choose from the multifarious varieties of a car loan, it could be a new car loan, a used car loan or a pre-owned car loan. You can also avail loan against a car. It all depends on what your needs are and what fits your budget. A car loan calculator will help you  get a clear picture and it will thereby allow you to plan your expenses by letting you calculate every aspect of the car loan that you would be taking for a particular bank.

You will get to know the exact break up of your investment in your car loan. It will allow you to calculate the interest that you will be paying on the principal of the loan amount that you borrow from the bank. There are a lot many options available and a variety of car loans are flooding the market. You have to do your in depth research and pick and choose the car loan that suits you best. You are absolutely free to make the decision based on your pocket.

Once you choose, all you need to do is choose your car and then visit the bank’s website page and calculate your car loan interest accurately with the help of a car loan calculator.

All About Fixed Deposit Interest Calculator

Fixed Deposit is more of a term deposit with an interest rate on the higher side when compared to the savings bank interest rate and it is because of the higher interest rate and the low risk in the investment it is one of the most popular investment choices in India. The interest rate is fixed for the whole maturity period and even if it fluctuates during the tenure of your FD , you will receive the same interest rate which was decided at the time of your initial investment.

Whoever the interest rates differ from bank to bank and this is why it is advisable to do your research properly before opening an FD account so that you receive the best in every way. The interest also depends on the FD tenure or the maturity period. In other words in case the maturity period is long and the FD tenure is on the higher side, the interest rate that would be offered to you might be higher as well. The interest rate is compounded quarterly i.e. every three months in most of the banks. Fixed deposits have extremely low liquidity and you cannot withdraw any amount before the tenure of the FD is over and done with. If that happens you have to pay the penalty for re withdrawal which would reduce your interest rates and also a fine of up to 1% of the amount deposited.

Along with all of the above information it is important to not that you are liable to pay tax on the interest that you earn on your principal FD amount. Depending on the tax bracket in which you fall. The FDs are very safe with stable and predictable returns and they are also very suitable for conservative investors. However FDs are low on the liquidity front, the returns are generally low because of the taxes that are levied on the interest earned.

Before investing in an FD it is always advisable to sit down with a pen and paper and calculate the FD for the decoded tenure, so that you will be able to figure out how much interest you will be earning over the time period. However it is very important to keep in mind that the calculation that is supposed to be done should be accurate. Doing an FD calculation is rather difficult and that is where the FD calculator comes in to play.

Nowadays most of the bank websites and the NBFC websites as well have a FD calculator which lets you calculate the interest that you would be earning over the entire FD tenure in an accurate manner.
You just have to enter the principal amount, the FD tenure, the rate of interest that has been decided and the compounding frequency and your FD interest rate will be calculated by the FD calculator in an impeccable and time-saving manner.

All About Demat Accounts And How To Open One

The savings bank account is for your money, your demat account is for your shares. To be straight, a demat account holds all your shares in a dematerialised and electronic format.  All your financial machinery including government securities, mutual funds, shares, bonds are held by Demat accounts. If you want to trade in the stock market it is mandatory that you have a demat account.

Now lets see how it works:

The CDSL and NSDL are two depositories in India that holds all demat accounts. A unique identification number is associated with every demat account and this is the number that you are supposed to provide while buying or sharing any share or bond in short making any transaction. This number make the companies identify you and deposit the shares and bonds in your account.
Then there are depository participants who provides a connection to the central depository. They are the brokers or financial firms that offer demat services.

Whenever you check your account,m you can see all the securities your demat account holds, this is also called portfolio holding. Whenever you make any transaction, these portfolio holdings and details are automatically updated.

Now lets get to the brass tacks! – how do we open a demat account?

The very first step is to choosing a Depository participant. There are many depository participants out there sone of them are 1. Globe capital market limited, 2. SMC global securities limited, 3. HDFC bank limited, 4. Sharekhan limited, 5. Edelweiss securities limited, 6. Kotak securities, 7. India Infoline limited so on and so forth.

Once that is done and you have chosen a depository participant, you have to fill up a demat account opening form  with the required documents and a pan card! After which, a copy of the rules and regulations and the terms and agreements will be handed over to you which will also include the charges that will be borne by  you. When Depository participant is done processing your documents for the account opening, it will give you your account number and the unique id that has been spoken about earlier on.  You have to use these details to access your details on your demat account whenever you want to. A monthly charge of maintenance of the demat account has to be paid by you and at the same time you also have to pay the charges for buying and selling securities, these charges differ in almost every depository participant.

Unlike a normal savings account a demat account can be opened even of one doesn’t hold and shares and the maintenance of shares in the account is not necessary to keep the account operable.