How To Transfer Funds To An NRO Account?

Funding and finance are the critical aspects of living a peaceful life in any part of the world. Without sufficient funds, it becomes challenging to meet essential requirements such as housing, food, clothing, utility bill expenses, and others. Money helps people live a life they desire and allows them to access all the luxuries and amenities without any financial constraints. They are free to explore the world and fulfil all their demands and aspirations.

An NRO account is an abbreviation for a Non-Resident Ordinary account that allows NRIs to fulfil their banking needs while they are away from India. They enable account holders to receive funds within as well as outside India. Such accounts help them when they also need to receive regular funds from India. The sources of income include dividend income, investment income, rental income, etc. received through normal banking channels. If one is responsible for holding equity investments within India, the other must take care to provide the account as the default bank account for receiving dividend credits.

The utilization of the NRO bank account balance has no restrictions concerning withdrawing funds within India. If individual wishes to repatriate funds outside India, the principal funds can be transferred only up to specified limits. However, the interest earned can freely repatriate outside India. They allow flexibility when allowing joint operations with a resident Indian, unlike other accounts, which enable joint operations only with another NRI. Individuals can also opt for joint ownership with the parents and dependents in India while staying abroad.

How to open the account?

Individuals can open an NRO account by filling the application form providing all the details and submitting it to the bank online. After the submission, enter the mobile number along with a convenient time for the bank representative to contact and arrange for completing the required formalities, including funding details, undertaking the KYC compliance, etc.

Convert existing regular savings account into NRO accounts if the residential status has later changed into a non-resident. Submit a written application to the bank, stating the facts, including a change of residential status. The bank may require a copy of the passport, details of the new residential address outside India, along with documentary evidence for KYC compliance. For joint accounts, both the applicants must submit their KYC documents separately to the bank.

How to transfer funds into the account?

An NRO online account is flexible in accepting foreign currency remittances as well as rupee transactions. Individuals can transfer funds into it from any foreign bank account or any bank account within India. With the flexibility of joint operations and receiving the rupee credits, NRIs can apply to open the account conveniently using digital media.

What Is Investment Banking? What Are Its Benefits?

 Investment banking is about managing investments for a bank’s client towards whom these facilities are directed. The individuals who can avail of the investment banking services are HNIs, corporates, and the Government for planning and managing large projects, saving time, and money by identifying the risks associated with the project before moving forward.

They are highly specialised segments within the banking operations which help raise the capital and offer financial consultancy facilities concerning large, complicated financial transactions. Such facilities include thorough investigation, analysis, and informed recommendations about how much the company is worth. Based on the results, the trained investment bankers determine whether to create the deal. 

Investment bankers further structure an optimal deal to check if the client is considering acquisition or merger or sale. Most of the investment banking services involve prime brokerage and asset management, which is in conjunction with their investment research businesses.

The services are broken down to bulge bracket, middle market, and boutique market. The benefits of investment banking services are –

• The services involve investing the client’s funds in other companies for creating more value.
• It helps investors raise funds by underwriting or by acting as an agent in the issuance of securities for conducting the acquisition, merger, or sale.
• A thorough investigation gets conducted to make sure every compliance is met for the client’s deal, thereby minimising the risk of failure or loss of invested capital.

Now, investment banking services are aplenty. They are as follows –

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate finance
• Equity research
• Sales & trading
• Asset management

What other services do investment banking offers?

The investment banking services may include the issuance of securities, underwriting, sales and trading of derivatives, equity securities, and fixed instruments, currencies, and commodities, facilities.

• Issuance of securities: It means raising capital for the client or business and creating documentation for the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is a prerequisite if the company plans to go public.
  
  
• Underwriting: It is practically the investment bank standing guarantee for the loan which is given to a business or corporate individual purely for business purpose. Investment banking also includes IPO underwriting, which assures that they have investigated the company’s credibility and is good to invest.
  
  
• Sales and Trading: This aspect of derivatives is a highly specialised skillset that offers accurate data, and its analysis comes handy for gauging the market stock price and its potential to grow or fall. These skills allow traders to either buy or sell stocks for their clients.
  
  
• FICC facilities: It involves handling fixed income instruments such as currencies and commodities, which, unlike the stocks carry lesser risk levels daily. Also, the percentage of growth is steadier.

Essential Facts You Should Be Aware Of Concerning NRI Banking

 Most of the Indian banks nowadays offer NRI account to their consumers living overseas. NRIs have the option to choose between three basic accounts – NRE, NRO, and FCNR accounts. These accounts make it easier to manage your savings seamlessly and conveniently. However, since all NRI bank accounts come with different features and benefits, here are some facts you should be aware of.

Types of accounts

As an NRI, you can open four different kinds of NRI bank account. These are –

• NRE account
• NRO account
• FCNR account
• RFC account

Salient features

Before you do the NRI account opening, you must consider your requirements. The basic features include –

• You will need an NRE account if you want to park your savings in foreign currencies. The funds parked in the accounts and the interest earned on the same are freely and fully repatriable.
  
  
• If you are staying overseas but have investments and a good source of income, you need an account where you can save funds in INR. In such scenarios, you should open an NRO account. In such accounts, you can only repatriate the interest earned on the savings, according to RBI limitations. Also, you need to pay TDS on the savings parked.
  
  
• If you hold enough savings in foreign currencies, you can open an FCNR account and earn decent interest rates on them without worrying about the currency fluctuations.
  
  
• If you seek to return to India at a later point and park the foreign currencies in the NRI savings account, you can open the RFC account for eliminating risks associated with currency fluctuations.

Opening of account

According to the NRI services, most prominent Indian banks allows the consumers to open their NRI account online. You can visit the preferred bank website, select the type of account you seek to open, fill the form, and attach documents. Some banks may ask to provide proof of the NRI status, which you get from the Indian Embassy of the country you are living in. You can also open this account by visiting your preferred bank with the essential documents whenever you visit India. While most banks offer these services, you should check if the bank has an RBI authorisation and the necessary license for dealing with foreign currencies. Open such accounts irrespective of the international country you reside in.

Facilities available

As an NRI, you can save your foreign earnings in any of the mentioned NRI bank account. You can conduct different transactions. Like with most of the accounts, you can NRI net banking facility which helps you do a range of online transactions. For instance, you can easily send funds to your family in India or make fixed deposits out of the savings through internet banking. You can seamlessly transfer money from one account to other and pay for the expenses in India or overseas through net banking.

How To Open A Saving Account?

Finance and funds are some of the essential requirements for living a comfortable and luxurious life. Not only do they provide mental satisfaction, but they also provide people with the ability to meet all their desires. Most importantly, families must learn how to use money sustainably so that they can start saving for the future. Nobody can predict emergencies and problems; hence it is safer to start saving from the current moment.

With the help of banks and financial institutions, people can start depositing and investing capital in various assets for higher returns in the future. They offer the facility of a saving account which enables customers to use their wealth wisely and calculatingly so that they do not exhaust their savings. Money can help people avoid so many problems like debts, poverty, dependability, and so on.

With the rise in people opting for employment, companies approach banks to help them with a zero-balance account opening online to deposit the salaries of all their employees at the end of each month. They can use it to their convenience and withdraw money whenever they desire. All account holders get a debit card, a cheque book, a passbook, and other documents necessary for tracking the finance from the respective bank.

Following is the eligibility criteria to open the account:

• The applicant should be a citizen of India
• The age should be 18 years and above
• Minors require their parents or a legal guardian to open an account for them
• The address and identity proof should be valid and approved by the Government

Documents required to open the account

With the invention and progress in technology, banks have started providing digital banking services for access to customers. The digital banking app helps them access services on mobiles and other gadgets anytime and anywhere. Whether opening a zero-balance saving account online or by visiting the bank’s branch, every applicant should submit some documents as proof. Following is the list of documents required to open this account:

• Proof of Identity – Passport, Driving Licence, Voter’s ID card, etc.
• Proof of Address – Passport, Driving Licence, Voter’s ID card, Utility Bills, etc.
• PAN card
• Form 16 (in the absence of the PAN card)
• Two latest passport size photographs of the applicant

The procedure to open the account

For accessing the benefits of online saving account opening, individuals must follow some guidelines to open the account. Following is the procedure:

• Download the application form from the bank’s website and fill it with the information in all the required fields to avoid rejection. Contact the executive of the bank for queries.
• Keep the documents mentioned above ready with the duly filled application form to upload on the bank’s website
• The bank’s executive will verify the information and provide the debit card and bank documents with details of the saving account

How Has Digital Banking Brought Changes In India?

Banking plays a fundamental part in financial activity today, and digital banking in India is highly advanced. Finding its roots, the word bank developed from the Italian word ‘Banca’ which means ‘bench’. The traders in the early middle ages would sit on benches where they would keep their coins for lending, exchanging, and trading. Chanakya, in his Arthashastra of the second or third century CE, mentions to dominant money lenders who lent money and kept deposits.

But currently, the new era is into internet banking. What is it? Digital banking, also known as online banking, provides its services online, and customers can access banking transactions, submit requests, and manage other banking activities online, it is called digital banking.

Indian banks were very hesitant to implement the changes brought about by technological advancement. Several factors brought about modernisation and digitisation in the banking industry in India. Putting in place standard cheque encoders was the first step towards digital transformation in banking.

Digital banking services allow funds to get transferred using different online modes such as RTGS, NEFT, and IMPS. Recent years have seen an increase in mobile banking services and other innovative services online.

Benefits of digital banking
Availability:
The customer can access his/her bank records anytime he/she wants, and several banking services are available to him/her 24/7. Transferring money is easier, faster, and secure.

No time constraint:
Several services require waiting for long periods. Banks have fixed times at their branches for different services. Even simply encashing a cheque takes time. But with digital banking, it is instant, with zero-time constraints.

Online bill payments
It is a feature that saves customers a lot of time and money. Customers no longer require carrying cash and wait in long queues to pay their utility bills or other bills.

The benefits of digital banking highlight its importance by themselves. However, the socio-economic conditions that surface add to the importance of digital banking in India. With the increase in crime rates and corruption, digital banking is a secure way to manage financial transactions.
Nowadays, even digital banking apps have changed the way banking is done in India. Almost every bank provides the same.

Advantages Of Priority Banking

Have you ever considered applying with your bank for preferred banking? Many banks give their customers something called "Priority Banking Solutions" which qualifies for the eligibility criteria.
Banks handle premium banking consumers in a specific manner, and they handle their priorities. Let us talk about it in detail, and if it makes sense for you as a customer to apply for priority customer banking.

You need to understand if the banks have a model of priority banking at all. If you want to put it positively, then it is a way to keep a different list of High Net-worth Individuals, concentrate more on them and serve them better, as one customer who's qualified for private banking would give the bank 100 times more business/profit than a regular one. A chosen banking customer would have to meet a few eligibility requirements, which gets linked to the bank balance.

Similarly, other banks also maintain criteria for high balance in the bank savings account. It means the bank can get plenty of cash for their business and can handle these customers well.

Facilities provided to Private Banking Customer
A customer of private banking enjoys few benefits over regular customers and gets more functionality. Some of these are:

• Separate queue at the bank
• No Net Banking charges on NEFT and RTGS transactions
• Free cheque book payable at any branch of the bank throughout the country, so you do not have to ask for demand drafts
• Charges waiver for cancellation of DD, Cheque Return, Duplicate Statement Fees, Demand Draft Charges, Locker Charges discount
• Cheque pick-up facility
• If you are transacting at other bank ATMs in India, no fees on balance inquiries and cash withdrawals

Most people have basic banking needs. Since the advent of Internet banking and mobile banking, your dependence on cheque books, Demand Drafts, and any physical visits to banks has decreased.
For most people, banking is a small part of their financial life, and they only get most of the facilities and what they need from their basic banking account. For them, applying for priority banking does not make sense.

Most investors, however, are actively interested in banking for personal purposes or their professional needs. For many of them, a few features that come with Privilege Banking may mean something very significant. If you are one of them, see how much of it you can need and then take a call.

Types Of Personal Loan Interest Rates

Every bank has a different method of functioning. There are different types of offers and benefits that they offer. They want to keep their customers happy. Hence, they choose to provide user-friendly services.

Interest rate is the rate at which interest is applicable on any amount borrowed from a bank or Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC). Personal loan interest rates are the critical factors that determine the selection of a loan application. Thus, always compare interest rates from multiple lenders before settling on a loan offer.

There are two types of Interest rates applicable on a personal loan, these are:

• Fixed-Rate of Interest
• Floating Rate of Interest

1. a) Fixed interest rate: In this case, the rate of interest remains constant throughout the loan tenure. Consequently, the monthly EMI amount also remains fixed throughout the loan repayment period. It may help to plan long term monthly expenses.
   
2. b) Floating interest rate: It depends on either the limitation set by the lender or as current market conditions. As a result, the floating interest rate is liable to change periodically, which leads to an increase/decrease in loan tenure or monthly EMI pay-outs depending on whether the rates move upwards or downwards.

Interest Calculation Methods
A personal loan calculator, available on online banking apps, can be used to calculate interest in the following methods:

• Flat Rate method: The interest gets calculated on the total loan amount initially borrowed over the entire tenure of the loan.
  
• Reducing Balance method: As monthly EMIs are paid off, parts of the loan amount and the interest component are also reduced. Thus, the principal loan amount decreases. The interest is calculated on this decreasing loan amount and not the total amount initially borrowed.

Interest Rates for Different Applicants
Most lenders consider some factors when deciding the interest rate applicable to loan borrowers. The following are some points on personal loan interest rates differ depending upon the applicant type:

• Salaried and self-employed: Generally, salaried employees with a stable employment record employed with reputed organizations get the loan at a lower interest rate than independent professionals because they have greater job security and better repayment capacity towards the loan. Self-employed applicants who have stable sources of income can also take these loans from banks.

• Women: Certain banks and NBFCs provide a preferential rate of interest to women. It is to promote salaried women, entrepreneurs, and professionals to fulfil their dreams and be financially stable.

• Pensioners: Pensioners can get special personal loans at a relatively lower rate of interest from banks. Beyond the applicant type, the interest rate depends on the profile of the loan applicant. People with a stable income, decent credit history tend to receive a loan at a lower rate, irrespective of their category.