Scouting for a bank to open a new account? You could add UCO Bank to the list of prospectives. The bank recently launched ‘Total Freedom', a scheme under which those wishing to open a current account or a savings account can do so, free of cost. They will also not be charged for issuance of a cheque book, demand drafts, bank statements and even fund transfers through RTGS and NEFT. However, this comes with a caveat. The minimum monthly average balance should be at least Rs 2,500 for a savings account and Rs 10,000 for a current account. The scheme is on till December 31, 2011. Existing customers of UCO Bank may opt for this scheme as well.

Cutting costs on cars

If you've been on the fence over whether or not to buy car, perhaps now is the time you hop off. In an effort to boost sales, car makers have lined up a series of discounts. Honda is offering limited-period price cuts of up to Rs 1.7 lakh on Honda Jazz variants. Honda Siel is also offering Rs 50,000 discount on its top-selling City sedan on top its earlier Rs 66,000 price cut. Moving on to Maruti, the WagonR, Alto and Estilo are now available with rebates of Rs 50,000 and above. Hyundai Motors has announced a discount of up to Rs 45,000 on the Santro and i10.

SBI ups deposit and lending rates

State Bank of India has hiked its deposit rates by 1 percentage point on Monday. Now, deposits from one to 10 year maturity will all enjoy 9.25 per cent interest. While the deposit rates for 7-90 days have been upped from 6.25 per cent to 7 per cent too, only the 180 - 240 day deposit rate has been cut to 6.5 per cent from 7.75 per cent. On the lending side, it has once again hiked its base rate by 25 bps to 9.5 per cent, which in total, is a 2 percentage point hike from the time monetary tightening began last year.

ULIP from Future Generali

Future Generali Life Insurance has launched a unit linked insurance plan, Future Generali Bima Advantage. The plan, which combines both insurance and investment, will offer life protection with an option to enhance the life cover. It has term options of 10-30 years and is available for customers between 7-65 years of age. The basic premiums, net of applicable charges, are invested in unit funds of the customer's choice. This plan gives you a choice to invest into all or any of the six unit linked funds of the company. It also allows 12 free fund switches per year giving you the flexibility to manage your investment actively. Four free partial withdrawals in a policy year also mean easy access to invested funds, whenever required.

Day trip to NSE

NSE has been organising ‘Visit to NSE' programmes, where groups of students visit NSE for a two-hour session at the Mumbai office and other regional offices at Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. The session will have lectures giving an overview of the exchange, capital markets, derivative markets and about NSE's certification course in financial markets (NCFM). A co-ordinator on behalf of schools or colleges and other educational institutions may contact the Mumbai or regional offices to participate in the programme.

HDFC Bank's premium credit card

HDFC Bank has launched an ultra premium credit card, INFINIA for uber-rich customers. Available on both VISA and MasterCard platforms, the card has no limit in terms of spending. It will be initially offered to 5,000 individuals, but by invitation only.

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