Current Affairs - Banking

HDFC Bank launched Pixel Play, the first virtual credit card in India in partnership with Visa. This innovative card offers personalized benefits and seamless digital management through the PayZapp mobile app, setting a new standard for banking experiences in the country.

HDFC Bank partnered with Atal Innovation Mission to provide grants totalling Rs 19.6 crore to 170 social startups in FY24. This collaboration, known as the 'Parivartan Start-up Grants programme,' aimed to foster social sector innovation across various critical areas and empower startups from tier 2 and 3 cities as well.

ICICI Bank has introduced a groundbreaking feature allowing non-resident Indian (NRI) customers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India through their international mobile numbers. This initiative enhances convenience for NRIs by streamlining payments without the need for an Indian mobile number, empowering global transactions and leveraging the UPI infrastructure provided by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered the maximum risk for custodian banks issuing irrevocable payment commitments (IPCs) from 50% to 30%. This decision follows the reduction in trade settlement time from T+2 to T+1 and T+0 for select equities by stock exchanges. The revised guidelines aim to mitigate risks associated with potential downward price movements of equities purchased by foreign institutional investors/mutual funds over two successive days from the trade date.

ICICI Bank recently achieved a market capitalization exceeding Rs 8 trillion, making it the second bank, after HDFC Bank, to achieve this milestone and enter the top 5 companies by market value list.