What’s new in the banking space

The top five remittance recipients in current US dollar terms in 2021 were India ($87 billion), China ($53 billion), Mexico ($52.743 billion), the Philippines ($36.240 billion), and the Arab Republic of Egypt (33.333 billion), as per World Bank’s estimates. Remittances to India advanced by an estimated 4.63 per cent (y-o-y) vis-a-vis 2020. Among the top five remittance recipients, barring China, whose inward remittances are estimated to have declined by 10.93 per cent y-o-y, the remaining four countries reported a y-o-y increase in inward remittances. Remittances to low- and middle-income countries are projected to have grown a strong 7.3 percent to reach $589 billion in 2021 against $559 billion in 2020.

Nearly 80 per cent of Global Indians surveyed are making investments in India compared to 85 per cent in their country of residence, as per a HSBC survey of over 4,152 people aged 18 and over in nine markets. The multinational bank’s first edition of The Global Indian Pulse, a cross-border study into Global Indian attitudes, observed that 56 per cent of those surveyed have increased their investments in India in the last three years. The report said the pandemic has driven a change in attitudes towards investment in India, with 72 per cent of Global Indians surveyed saying the pandemic has made them feel closer to friends and family in India. HSBC noted that 36 per cent of those already investing in India said they have proactively increased their investments in India with an aim to promote positive change whilst 29 per cent are increasing their investment in India with an aim to support the India’s Covid recovery.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Working Group (WG) on digital lending has recommended that digital lending apps should be subject to a verification process by a nodal agency and a separate legislation needs to be enacted to prevent illegal digital lending activities. The WG recommended disbursement of loans directly into the bank accounts of borrowers; disbursement and servicing of loans only through bank accounts of the digital lenders. Further, each digital lender should provide a key fact statement in a standardised format including the Annual Percentage Rate. The Group suggested that a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO), covering the participants in the digital lending ecosystem, should be set up.

The Indian economy is clearly differentiating itself from the global situation, which is marred by supply disruptions, stubborn inflation and surges of infections in various parts of the world, as per an article in RBI’s latest monthly bulletin. “India stands resolute in its quest for speedy revival, though the speed and pace of recovery remains uneven across different sectors of the economy. The outlook remains overcast by the future course of pandemic and global supply disruptions...The domestic situation seems to have brightened on the back of considerable dip in fresh infections and rapid progress in inoculations,” RBI officials, who put together the article, said.