Beginning April 1, one can walk into the ATM of any bank and withdraw cash or check the balance, at no extra charge.
This is when the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines, allowing free access to ATMs, become effective.
It was feared that the move may prompt banks to go slow on ATM expansion, in view of the fee from customers disappearing. But this does not seem to be the case, as most banks plan to continue with their ATM expansion.
This is because, the interchange fee, which is paid between banks, will continue. So, the RBI move could prove to be advantageous for banks with large ATM networks. They could earn more fee income, as more customers access their ATMs. The interchange fee is broadly between Rs 15 and 20 per transaction.
Sanjeev Patel, Head, Direct Banking Channels, HDFC Bank, said the bank, which has about 3,500 ATMs, is not planning to go slow on ATM expansion. “We are a big acquirer. We have a large distribution network and this will benefit us. It is unlikely that my customer will move out. Other banks’ customers will come to us,” he said.
Hemant Kaul, Executive Director, Retail Banking, Axis Bank, said that the beneficiaries of the RBI guidelines would be large banks who have invested money in setting up their own ATMs. The number of ATM transactions per debit card would also register an increase, he added.
Axis Bank, which added close to 400 ATMs this quarter, will have a network of around 3,600 by this fiscal.
For both HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, around 15 per cent of ATM transactions are from customers of other banks.
Banks could see some downward pressure on the network charge, due to the disappearance of the Rs 20 fee charged from customers. But as the interchange fee will continue, a small bank with a smaller ATM network will see more impact.
“Banks that tried to save capital cost by going slow on their ATM expansion would now have to pay for it, as from April 1, customers would not think twice before using another bank’s ATM and their banks would have to pay for it,” said a banking analyst.
Union Bank of India is one of the few banks that already allows its customers to use ATMs of other banks free of cost.
The bank will continue with its own ATM expansion, said M.V. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director.
The bank opened 500 branches and set up 500 ATMs this year. It has set the same target for next year as well.
According to Nair, the decision to expand ATMs will depend on the individual bank. But the RBI move could also give rise to alternative methods of proliferation of ATMs. “I see the distinct possibility of white labelled ATMs, which are present worldwide, catching on in India. The Payment Corporation of India could be the right vehicle to implement this,” he said.
YES Bank also offers its customers free access to ATMs of other banks.
The bank had, in a sense, implemented the RBI move four years ago, when it began operations, as it wanted to increase its retail customer base, said Suresh Sethi, President, Transaction Banking Group.
“We don’t see any change in our core banking operations as our customers already enjoy free ATM use. ATM expansion is critical to improving the visibility of the bank and building its image. Our expansion strategy will be guided by that,” he said.
Source : Business Line
Monday, March 30, 2009
Is Symphony eyeing more R&D acquisitions in India?
Symphony Services, a provider of outsourced product development, which recently acquired four captive R&D centres in India, expects the trend of captive acquisition to gain further momentum.
Symphony's four captive R&D centres are In-Reality, Intransa, CT Space and Cambridge Tech Partners in India.
Over the last decade, more than 700 product companies have embraced the offshore model and established captives in India, China, Eastern Europe and other lower cost, high talent regions.
Talking to CXOtoday, Ajay Kela, chief operating officer and managing director, Symphony Services, said, "Symphony's four acquisitions in the recent past are software companies with captive operations in India. We are currently in discussion with some of the subscale captives for acquisition and helping them turnaround, but cannot disclose the actual number."
Now with the recession sinking deeper, most parent companies are increasingly conserving cash and tend to avoid additional infrastructure expenses in a captive centre, thus giving opportunities for companies to acquire.
According to a report by Forrester, titled "Shattering the Offshore Captive Center Myth", about 60% of captives are struggling as they fail to meet expectations. There are several common reasons for failure: a poor delivery track record, operational problems, lack of scale, poor morale and high attrition, and escalating costs.
The challenges that captives are facing is resulting in a significant decrease in the number of new captives that are being introduced. According to Management Consulting company Zinnov, the number of new captives started in India over the last few years has declined from 76 to 15. Also, service providers are expected to outpace the growth of captives by more than 300% over the next four years.
Symphony acquisitions have been of different types - from outright purchase or acquisition of a captive to captive transfer where the deals did not have significant monetary implications, but captive transfers of its employees and operations to be run by Symphony.
In a 'captive transfer' employees of the captive entity become Symphonians and both the management teams collaborate to manage the operations and ensure product research and development for the parent company, Kela said.
"Over the last few years, there has been a trend of many subscale captives (manpower of less than 500 people) exploring alternative strategies like transferring their captive operations to services providers for managing their global product engineering operations because it no longer makes economic sense for them to run their own captive centre," said Kela.
Also, most software companies cannot afford to dramatically increase R&D expenditures by moving resources back onshore. Hence transferring their captive to a provider is a viable option for software companies and continues to leverage from the offshoring model, he said.
CXOtoday
Symphony's four captive R&D centres are In-Reality, Intransa, CT Space and Cambridge Tech Partners in India.
Over the last decade, more than 700 product companies have embraced the offshore model and established captives in India, China, Eastern Europe and other lower cost, high talent regions.
Talking to CXOtoday, Ajay Kela, chief operating officer and managing director, Symphony Services, said, "Symphony's four acquisitions in the recent past are software companies with captive operations in India. We are currently in discussion with some of the subscale captives for acquisition and helping them turnaround, but cannot disclose the actual number."
Now with the recession sinking deeper, most parent companies are increasingly conserving cash and tend to avoid additional infrastructure expenses in a captive centre, thus giving opportunities for companies to acquire.
According to a report by Forrester, titled "Shattering the Offshore Captive Center Myth", about 60% of captives are struggling as they fail to meet expectations. There are several common reasons for failure: a poor delivery track record, operational problems, lack of scale, poor morale and high attrition, and escalating costs.
The challenges that captives are facing is resulting in a significant decrease in the number of new captives that are being introduced. According to Management Consulting company Zinnov, the number of new captives started in India over the last few years has declined from 76 to 15. Also, service providers are expected to outpace the growth of captives by more than 300% over the next four years.
Symphony acquisitions have been of different types - from outright purchase or acquisition of a captive to captive transfer where the deals did not have significant monetary implications, but captive transfers of its employees and operations to be run by Symphony.
In a 'captive transfer' employees of the captive entity become Symphonians and both the management teams collaborate to manage the operations and ensure product research and development for the parent company, Kela said.
"Over the last few years, there has been a trend of many subscale captives (manpower of less than 500 people) exploring alternative strategies like transferring their captive operations to services providers for managing their global product engineering operations because it no longer makes economic sense for them to run their own captive centre," said Kela.
Also, most software companies cannot afford to dramatically increase R&D expenditures by moving resources back onshore. Hence transferring their captive to a provider is a viable option for software companies and continues to leverage from the offshoring model, he said.
CXOtoday
Sunday, March 29, 2009
About 26,000 jobs lost in Malaysia due to global crisis
More than 26,000 people have lost their jobs in Malaysia so far this year as the economic slowdown forced employers to cut back, state news agency Bernama reported Sunday.
Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told Bernama he expected further job losses in the coming weeks.
He said a 16.2 billion dollar stimulus package unveiled earlier this month had not provided immediate incentive for companies to retain their workers.
The government has slashed its work permit approvals for foreign workers by almost 70 percent so far this year and cancelled work visas for 55,000 Bangladeshi workers after unions said the situation for Malaysians was bleak enough.
In January, the government also banned the hiring of new foreigners in the manufacturing and services sectors after a report forecast 45,000 Malaysians would lose their jobs in the next few months.
Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour and has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.
However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of having such a large migrant workforce and periodically tries to reduce it.
Agencies
Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan told Bernama he expected further job losses in the coming weeks.
He said a 16.2 billion dollar stimulus package unveiled earlier this month had not provided immediate incentive for companies to retain their workers.
The government has slashed its work permit approvals for foreign workers by almost 70 percent so far this year and cancelled work visas for 55,000 Bangladeshi workers after unions said the situation for Malaysians was bleak enough.
In January, the government also banned the hiring of new foreigners in the manufacturing and services sectors after a report forecast 45,000 Malaysians would lose their jobs in the next few months.
Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour and has an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.
However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of having such a large migrant workforce and periodically tries to reduce it.
Agencies
Are new technologies rescuing Web start-ups?
Web entrepreneurs are increasingly embracing new technologies from "cloud" computing to new computer languages to try and slash costs as investors disappear because of recession.
Investors and entrepreneurs say cloud computing, new and free programming languages, open-source software, and use of the Internet to distribute and publicize products have made starting a company relatively inexpensive and will allow startups to ride out the credit crunch and recession.
"What you're talking about is life or death," said Drew Clark, director of strategy for IBM's venture capital group, speaking to media on the sidelines of a business conference.
Venture capital investment dived 71 percent in January and is not expected to rebound for much of 2009.
"For the best of these companies, this could be the difference. If this had happened three years ago, they'd be gone," Clark said, adding that IBM advocates open source.
One much talked-about innovation is cloud computing using the Web to access programs and data at remote computer centers. That makes costly, long-term capital expenditure and storage unnecessary.
Persistent concerns about the security of data stored on remote servers and the dependability of external systems are offset by its economic advantages, entrepreneurs say.
"In 2005 we needed 10 to 20 times the money we need today. There was a certain amount that entrepreneurial intelligence couldn't get around. Somehow you had to pay that piper," said James Siminoff, chief executive of Grid.com and Simulscribe, which changes phone messages into text.
One hour and $50
A decade ago, Michael Eisenberg, a general partner with Benchmark Capital in Israel, recalls he had to pay $10,000 each for Sun Microsystems servers.
"Today if I want to start up, it takes me one hour and $50 and I can turn on my capacity from Amazon Web Services from anywhere in the world," Eisenberg said.
Some fledgling companies like Delve Networks are capitalizing on that trend, charging clients over $250 a month to host video on their websites. Delve itself owns little more than the personal computers used by its 20 employees.
Time is critical for start-ups because they burn cash every day. Hence the rise of streamlined programming languages such as this year's hit, Ruby.
Ruby is a free, open-source language that Siminoff's chief technology officer, Mark Dillon, said is so concise he can do in three lines of machine code what it took him 25 lines in Java, an older language. That speeds up program revisions.
Corporations have turned to offering free, open source software -- a boon for cash-strapped start-ups. Sun Microsystems, IBM and others give away software to attract developers and gain contracts.
Finally, Internet marketing allows start-ups to publicize their wares at a fraction the cost of more traditional marketing or advertising campaigns.
"There are all these social conventions about companies that assume they are very big expensive things," said Silicon Valley start-up guru Paul Graham, whose "Y Combinator" invests $10,000 to $20,000 into quick, ultra-cheap startups. "It's just not true anymore."
Agencies
Investors and entrepreneurs say cloud computing, new and free programming languages, open-source software, and use of the Internet to distribute and publicize products have made starting a company relatively inexpensive and will allow startups to ride out the credit crunch and recession.
"What you're talking about is life or death," said Drew Clark, director of strategy for IBM's venture capital group, speaking to media on the sidelines of a business conference.
Venture capital investment dived 71 percent in January and is not expected to rebound for much of 2009.
"For the best of these companies, this could be the difference. If this had happened three years ago, they'd be gone," Clark said, adding that IBM advocates open source.
One much talked-about innovation is cloud computing using the Web to access programs and data at remote computer centers. That makes costly, long-term capital expenditure and storage unnecessary.
Persistent concerns about the security of data stored on remote servers and the dependability of external systems are offset by its economic advantages, entrepreneurs say.
"In 2005 we needed 10 to 20 times the money we need today. There was a certain amount that entrepreneurial intelligence couldn't get around. Somehow you had to pay that piper," said James Siminoff, chief executive of Grid.com and Simulscribe, which changes phone messages into text.
One hour and $50
A decade ago, Michael Eisenberg, a general partner with Benchmark Capital in Israel, recalls he had to pay $10,000 each for Sun Microsystems servers.
"Today if I want to start up, it takes me one hour and $50 and I can turn on my capacity from Amazon Web Services from anywhere in the world," Eisenberg said.
Some fledgling companies like Delve Networks are capitalizing on that trend, charging clients over $250 a month to host video on their websites. Delve itself owns little more than the personal computers used by its 20 employees.
Time is critical for start-ups because they burn cash every day. Hence the rise of streamlined programming languages such as this year's hit, Ruby.
Ruby is a free, open-source language that Siminoff's chief technology officer, Mark Dillon, said is so concise he can do in three lines of machine code what it took him 25 lines in Java, an older language. That speeds up program revisions.
Corporations have turned to offering free, open source software -- a boon for cash-strapped start-ups. Sun Microsystems, IBM and others give away software to attract developers and gain contracts.
Finally, Internet marketing allows start-ups to publicize their wares at a fraction the cost of more traditional marketing or advertising campaigns.
"There are all these social conventions about companies that assume they are very big expensive things," said Silicon Valley start-up guru Paul Graham, whose "Y Combinator" invests $10,000 to $20,000 into quick, ultra-cheap startups. "It's just not true anymore."
Agencies
Over 121,000 Filipinos' jobs axed amid global recession
Over 121,000 Filipino workers have either lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts or reduced work loads because of the economic crisis, a government official said Sunday.
Between October last year and mid-March, 11,574 permanently lost their jobs and 38,806 others were temporarily laid off by Philippines-based companies, Labour Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz told an economic forum in this industrial enclave north of Manila.
A total of 59,149 others were placed on flexible work arrangements, she added.
Meanwhile, 12,000 out of the 8.5 million-strong Filipino work force abroad had lost their jobs, mostly in Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Baldoz.
Last week the government said electronics firms based in the Philippines began giving their remaining workers half-pay or 150 pesos (3.11 dollars) a day in a bid to keep them employed until demand picks up again.
The labour undersecretary said the electronics sector was the worst hit with almost half the total work force affected.
The crisis has also hit about 10 per cent of employees in the automotive, garments, mining, property, services, and woodworking industries, she added.
She went on to say the government expects the crisis to bottom out over the next few months as just 397 workers a day were losing their jobs in mid-March compared to 437 at the start of the month.
"Before the first semester ends, we could say that the worst is over," she said.
"In the next five months, workers' displacements will continue but we expect it to be on a slower pace and only in the export manufacturing sector."
Agencies
Between October last year and mid-March, 11,574 permanently lost their jobs and 38,806 others were temporarily laid off by Philippines-based companies, Labour Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz told an economic forum in this industrial enclave north of Manila.
A total of 59,149 others were placed on flexible work arrangements, she added.
Meanwhile, 12,000 out of the 8.5 million-strong Filipino work force abroad had lost their jobs, mostly in Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Baldoz.
Last week the government said electronics firms based in the Philippines began giving their remaining workers half-pay or 150 pesos (3.11 dollars) a day in a bid to keep them employed until demand picks up again.
The labour undersecretary said the electronics sector was the worst hit with almost half the total work force affected.
The crisis has also hit about 10 per cent of employees in the automotive, garments, mining, property, services, and woodworking industries, she added.
She went on to say the government expects the crisis to bottom out over the next few months as just 397 workers a day were losing their jobs in mid-March compared to 437 at the start of the month.
"Before the first semester ends, we could say that the worst is over," she said.
"In the next five months, workers' displacements will continue but we expect it to be on a slower pace and only in the export manufacturing sector."
Agencies
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Is Infosys eyeing acquisitions in the US?
Indian software major Infosys Technologies Ltd expects to find acquisition opportunities in the US during the downturn, co-chairman Nandan Nilekani was quoted as saying.
"Acquisitions will definitely be very accessible in this market from a price point of view," Nilekani told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. "If it makes sense, we'll do it."
Companies that operate in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors might make particularly interesting targets, he said, adding that Infosys has $2 billion in cash and no debt.
In the interview, Nilekani reiterated Infosys's earlier guidance of about 12 per cent revenue growth for the fiscal year ending March 31. That would be a sharp deceleration from growth of 35 per cent, as measured by the US accounting rules, in the year ended March 31, 2008.
Nilekani told the Journal that potential customers are holding back both because of the economic crisis and a rise in protectionist sentiment.
On the economic crisis, Nilekani said "I've never seen this level of lack of clarity." He said executives are "more focused on short-term tactical issues" than making bigger decisions about outsourcing.
In response, Nilekani said Infosys is working with customers on alternative payment arrangements, including some that would link fees to business results. Other customers are asking to pay on a per-transaction basis, rather than a lump sum for a system.
Nilekani said rising protectionist sentiment in the US also is affecting customers' decision-making about outsourcing.
The economic stimulus bill, for example, includes a provision preventing participants in the US' financial bailout programme from hiring workers with H-1B visas, which are commonly used by the non-US outsourcing companies.
"Political issues have become more pre-eminent in our conversations," he added.
Partly for that reason, he told the journal that he does not know whether more the US firms will lay off domestic workers and move more jobs to India, as International Business Machines Corp plans to do, Nilekani said.
Agencies
"Acquisitions will definitely be very accessible in this market from a price point of view," Nilekani told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. "If it makes sense, we'll do it."
Companies that operate in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors might make particularly interesting targets, he said, adding that Infosys has $2 billion in cash and no debt.
In the interview, Nilekani reiterated Infosys's earlier guidance of about 12 per cent revenue growth for the fiscal year ending March 31. That would be a sharp deceleration from growth of 35 per cent, as measured by the US accounting rules, in the year ended March 31, 2008.
Nilekani told the Journal that potential customers are holding back both because of the economic crisis and a rise in protectionist sentiment.
On the economic crisis, Nilekani said "I've never seen this level of lack of clarity." He said executives are "more focused on short-term tactical issues" than making bigger decisions about outsourcing.
In response, Nilekani said Infosys is working with customers on alternative payment arrangements, including some that would link fees to business results. Other customers are asking to pay on a per-transaction basis, rather than a lump sum for a system.
Nilekani said rising protectionist sentiment in the US also is affecting customers' decision-making about outsourcing.
The economic stimulus bill, for example, includes a provision preventing participants in the US' financial bailout programme from hiring workers with H-1B visas, which are commonly used by the non-US outsourcing companies.
"Political issues have become more pre-eminent in our conversations," he added.
Partly for that reason, he told the journal that he does not know whether more the US firms will lay off domestic workers and move more jobs to India, as International Business Machines Corp plans to do, Nilekani said.
Agencies
Agilent to layoff 2,700
Agilent Technologies Inc said it will lay off 2,700 workers and halt share buybacks as the scientific-instrument maker struggles with a huge drop in demand.
The company expects revenue in its electronic-measurement segment to drop 30 per cent in fiscal 2009 -- the lowest level in its 10-year history.
Revenue in its chip and board test segment is expected to fall 50 per cent from the 2008 level, and 65 per cent from its peak volume.
Agilent is cutting annual costs by $300 million in its electronic-measurement segment and by $10 million in its chip and board test segment.
The company will also suspend share buybacks for the rest of its fiscal year, which ends in October.
The 2,700 layoffs bring the number of employees who have been laid off since December 2008 to 3,800, spokeswoman Amy Flores said, marking a 20 per cent cut in workers since the end of last year.
The moves entail cash costs of about $160 million. “Business remains severely depressed, and there are no prospects for a meaningful recovery in the foreseeable future,'' Chief Executive Bill Sullivan, said in a statement released by the company.
Agencies
The company expects revenue in its electronic-measurement segment to drop 30 per cent in fiscal 2009 -- the lowest level in its 10-year history.
Revenue in its chip and board test segment is expected to fall 50 per cent from the 2008 level, and 65 per cent from its peak volume.
Agilent is cutting annual costs by $300 million in its electronic-measurement segment and by $10 million in its chip and board test segment.
The company will also suspend share buybacks for the rest of its fiscal year, which ends in October.
The 2,700 layoffs bring the number of employees who have been laid off since December 2008 to 3,800, spokeswoman Amy Flores said, marking a 20 per cent cut in workers since the end of last year.
The moves entail cash costs of about $160 million. “Business remains severely depressed, and there are no prospects for a meaningful recovery in the foreseeable future,'' Chief Executive Bill Sullivan, said in a statement released by the company.
Agencies
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