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Bangalore: The current demand in the job market can be assessed by looking at the number of people vying for jobs at State Bank of India (SBI). Following an advertisement last month by SBI for 11,000 clerical posts, more than 36.11 lakh people have applied for the job, many of them being post-graduates or MBAs.

According to an official close to the development, the factors which are responsible for the response, is the recession and a freeze on recruitments in both the public and private sectors. “This was the first ad after a long time for recruitment to a nationalized bank, and therefore the deluge,” the official said to The Economic Times.

By looking at such a high demand for its jobs, SBI now faces the dilemma of how to conduct exams for such a large number of candidates. “It has been proposed to hold the exams in three phases, on November 8, 15 and 22, in two shifts. This way we can test 12 lakh people every day. The final decision will be taken within a week,” the official said.

The huge number of vacancies came into being on account of new branches being opened, the longtime freeze on new recruitments and retirement of existing employees. Incidentally, of the 36.11 lakh applications, more than half a million are from Maharashtra and of the 11,000 posts, 1,100 are reserved for the Maharashtra circle.

HCL Infosystems announced that it has bagged an order of over Rs. 40 crore from State Bank of India and its associated banks to deploy, maintain and service its advanced HCL-Hyosung Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) .

This is a ‘first of its kind’ order for HCL since its tieup with Korean major Nautilus Hyosung, to provide complete ATM solutions for banks across the country. Under the contract, HCL will deploy over 1,000 ATMs and cash dispensers across the country. The new ATMs will come with enhanced features like Braille enablement and support for multilingual content.

JV Ramamurthy, chief operating officer of HCL Infosystems, said, HCL has been focusing on providing latest banking & finance solutions for the Indian market. Given the potential of this sector, we are sure that with our ATM solutions we will be able to raise the bar for the banking & financial solutions in India, he said.

The HCL-Hyosung range of ATMs offers products that have been customized to the various requirements of the Indian market.

Going ahead, HCL plans to introduce cost-effective, rural ATMs, meant for deployment by banks in locations with relatively low transaction volumes and also help in the Financial Inclusion initiatives of banks.

Bangalore: After a year of carnage in the global banking industry, five Indian banks figured in the list of the world’s top 1,000 banks in 2009, compiled by trade magazine ‘The Banker’. State-owned State Bank of India holds the first position among the Indian banks and ranked 64th position and ICICI bank ranked 81st among global banks.

The top five banks in the world are JP Morgan Chase followed by Bank of America, CITI Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings by capital strength. Among all these five banks, HSBC is the only bank that has not received any government support.

The other Indian banks in the global first 500 league are Punjab National bank, HDFC Bank and Bank of India at 239, 242 and 263, respectively.

The rankings are based on nine parameters-the strength of their Tier I capital, the size of their assets, their capital adequacy ratio, pre-tax profit, growth in profit and five performance indicators (profits on average capital, return on assets, cost income ratio, Basle capital ratio and percentage of non-performing loans).

‘The Banker’, a part of the Financial Times group has been carrying the rankings since 1970. According to publication, banks that stuck to the basics, taking deposits and lending in their home markets fared the best.

“In future banks will be run much more conservatively. Regulators will require them to hold more capitals and be less leveraged which will reduce the profits of the industry as a whole but will bring about a safer banking system,” said Brian Caplen, Editor, The Banker.

State Bank of India (SBI) has gone live on cash management product across corporate accounts group divisions at more than 300 branches. The Bank has selected Nucleus Software Export Limited’s Nucleus cash management product Cash@Will (payments and collection) for the project.

Cash@Wi!l, a cash management product for managing cash flow and implementing long-term flexible solutions, will help the Bank in managing its government clients better. It will help SBI improve revenue, maximize profits, optimize costs, and establish efficient management systems to accelerate growth, according to a statement.

SBI is now using Cash@Will for drafts, Income-Tax refund orders (ITRO), multi-city cheque (MCC) and collection services. The implementation was done in a phased manner where payments and collections modules implemented initially were subsequently replaced by the newer version of Cash@Will. The solution will power the cash management product of SBI, which handles businesses like ITRO, SBI Rights Issue.

Vishnu R. Dusad, CEO and MD, Nucleus Software Exports Limited, said, “As an IPR-led company, our synergistic approach of aligning our intellectual capital with business requirement helps our clients improve their operational efficiencies and customer value.”

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today announced a flat eight per cent interest rate for a period of one year on new home loans, ahead of bankers ‘ meet with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who holds the portfolio of finance ministry as well, on Monday.

SBI said in a release that the interest rate would be frozen at eight per cent for one year. After the freeze period, it would be reset to the rate as originally applicable under respective schemes.

The new scheme of eight per cent interest rate will be offered for loans availed between February 2 and April 30, 2009, it added.

Existing customers can also avail this offer under a new scheme –SBI Lifestyle Loan. However, for existing accounts this facility would be available to the extent of 10 per cent of home loans or up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh only, SBI said.

Borrowers under two schemes– loans up to Rs 5 lakh and in the bracket Rs 5-20-lakh — would also be given loans at eight per cent for a period of one year, it said, adding that after one year originally contracted rate will be applicable.

For SME borrowers, SBI has introduced a new package under which an additional working capital facility of 20 per cent of the fund-based limits will extended at eight per cent rate to take care of inventories of raw materials, finished goods and delayed payments from buyers in the current downturn. This will also have a freeze period of one year.

Besides, under SME Help term loans will be offered eight per cent for the first year to purchase fixed assets like generator sets.

The move assumes significance as bankers are scheduled to meet Mukherjee on Monday and the issue of reducing interest rate is likely to figure prominently.