Saloni Shukla

Home loan borrowers may see a rate reduction in 2025 as the RBI shifts policy stance to neutral. Economists predict a rate cut in February and April, potentially lowering borrowing costs. This would bring relief to borrowers and spur growth in other consumer sectors. Banks like SBI and Axis Bank expect strong growth driven by consumer confidence and new projects.

Total gross advances stood at Rs 25.42 lakh crore as of December 31, 2024, a growth of around 3.0% over Rs 24.69 lakh crore at the end of December 31, 2023. The bank securitised loans worth Rs 21,600 crore during the quarter as a strategic initiative. In this fiscal year the bank has so far assigned loans worth Rs 46,300 crore.

Asset reconstruction companies are hiring specialised collection agencies to recover unsecured retail loans as stress in this segment increases. ARCs are prompted by the need to use external infrastructure and banking guidelines. A push towards professionalisation in loan recovery is underway.

India's leading private lender HDFC Bank plans to potentially reduce its stake in HDB Financial Services to below 20% or consider product segregation if the draft RBI circular on overlapping business moves forward, avoiding merger due to operational complexities and compliance challenges, as analyzed by Macquarie Capital.

Facial recognition-based Aadhaar payments, launched by NPCI, have not gained traction even after a year due to limited implementation by banks. Public-sector banks like SBI seek a desktop version from UIDAI. Facial recognition promises lower costs and better reliability compared to other Aadhaar verification methods.

​​The company is a good bet based on its potential for an improvement in return on assets driven by margin expansion, and lower credit costs given its best-in-class underwriting standards, says the brokerage.

Business correspondents have requested the RBI to double the monthly transfer limit to ₹50,000 and reduce two-factor authentication to once a month. They have also flagged misuse of the system by some entities to bypass TDS and GST rules using the payment gateway's API.

Recent unfortunate episodes, including the passing of high-achieving individuals like the founders of Epigamia, Table Space, and Pepperfry, among many others, have cast a sobering spotlight on the need to rethink how we approach health and balance in our lives.

If the tariff war escalates and the Reserve Bank of India relaxes its intervention strategy in the foreign exchange market, the rupee could hit the 87 mark even before the end of this fiscal year, they cautioned.

State-run SBI could report profit after tax (PAT) growth upwards of 80% on the back of comparatively better deposit growth and lower wage costs, while HDFC Bank may report less than 7% rise in PAT amid muted loan and deposit growth across the banking sector.